Tricia's DePuy Hip Recall Blog

Severe hip damage like osteoarthritis may now be treated with hip replacement surgery, orthopedic experts say, although it is possible that the artificial hip will fail and the patient may require a hip revision. Dr. Lalit Puri explained that joint revision surgeries are more complex than the initial joint replacement because there is typically reduced bone and muscle mass, as well as a higher risk for complication, according to a press release from the Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Women may be advised to undergo a hip revision surgery if they have suffered from complications brought about by their hip implants. Some patients who have experienced severe hip pain and damage are waiting for the news regarding the possible settlements from Johnson & Johnson.

Women are more prone to develop osteoarthritis, research shows, and this means that more women undergo hip replacement surgery. There are several signs that may indicate the need for a revision surgery. Women who have an all-metal hip implant may need to watch out for the following signs and symptoms:

-      Pain – this may be the first sign that is felt by women. This may be the motivating factor for some because it will prevent them from doing their day-to-day activities. The more activities they do, the more the pain aggravates. Hence, they might avoid doing any kind of activity.

-      Stiffness – there are some cases that there is no pain but the joint is stiff and is immobile. This lack of mobility will also limit them from performing their activities at home and work. Stiffness may be experienced because the hip joint is fused.

Hip joint revision may be done but patients need to find an expert that will perform this operation because not all orthopedic surgeons are equipped to perform this surgical procedure. The damaged hip joint needs to be removed and replaced by a new one. Patients may need to think things over before going through a hip revision surgery as there are also several complications to this type of operation. There might be some patients who will develop health complications because of the surgical procedure.

Hence, women who are advised to have a revision surgery might need to take into consideration several factors before deciding to have this major surgery. Although news about the DePuy hip recall has already been released, some patients who have the all-metal hip implants are still unaware about it.

URL References:

orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00510

ard.bmj.com/content/56/8/455.full

nmh.org/nm/hip-revision-patient-story

hss.edu/conditions_revision-total-hip-replacement-overview.asp#Things

The legitimacy of the verdict pertaining the first DePuy ASR hip implant lawsuit has been questioned by Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiary, DePuy Orthopaedics, an online report says, arguing that the decision made by the assigned jury is ambiguous. On April 17 a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) and a new trial for an alternative were both presented by DePuy to challenge the legitimacy of the court's decision on Loren Kransky’s case. Both motions came about after a conclusion was made for the second DePuy ASR case in which jury sided with the defendants and shifted blame to the United States Food and Drug Administration.

The triggering factor of the motion is the inconsistency of verdicts for the first and second ASR trials. According to DePuy, the verdict of the first ASR case is odd since both lawsuits have presented similar cases and arguments. Unfortunately for DePuy, on May 24 hearing Judge Stephen Czuleger decided to uphold the $8.26 million jury verdict; thus both motions that were raised by the defendants were all declined. The judge says that despite of the second trial’s outcome, the evidence on record in the first trial is sufficient enough for a jury to rationally conclude that the plaintiff’s injury was caused by the defective device.

Out of 10,000 ASR lawsuits filed in the United States, only two has been concluded so far. Recalling ASR lawsuit history, Montana plaintiff Loren Kransky was awarded by jury some $8.26 million in compensatory damages due to injuries caused by a defective implant while defendant Johnson & Johnson was left victorious when assigned jury favored the latter. The sudden change of verdicts was triggered when the court agreed to include Food and Drug Administration’s preliminary assessment as evidence to be used by the defendant in the proceedings. Definitely, jury’s decision for the second ASR lawsuit has brought some hope for DePuy to think that they may still win this battle for the thousands of ASR lawsuits pending in court.

For now anxious spectators are anticipating on what will happen on the upcoming federal ASR lawsuit to commence on September of this year. Although bellwether plaintiff Faye Dorney-Madgitz may be presenting similar claims with the other ASR lawsuits that were already concluded, still no one can tell exactly how the proceeding would go under the multidistrict litigation. Hip lawyers believed that the first bellwether trial is significant since it is possible that the manner of its proceeding may carry weight to awaiting DePuy ASR lawsuits.

Sources:

www.drugwatch.com/2012/07/27/first-trial-dates-set-for-depuy-asr-hip-replacement-lawsuits/

www.lehighvalleylive.com/breaking-news/index.ssf/2013/03/83_million_awarded_in_johnson.html