The evolving DePuy Hip Implant Litigation

Problems Associated with DePuy ASR Hip Implants
Countless patients have been adversely affected by the faulty DePuy ASR hip implants. The health problems associated with the defective health implants have been numerous. In fact, only five years after the initial surgery, approximately one in eight patients required revision surgery. But the problems don’t end there. Patients are also suffering from cobaltism.

Cobaltism can result in a variety of severe health problems including tinnitus, vertigo,deafness, blindness, optic nerve atrophy, convulsions, headaches, peripheral neuropathy, cardiomyopathy, and hypothyroidism. A recent report in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, examined two patients suffering from arthroprosthetic cobaltism as a result of the metal-on-metal implants. So just how serious were the health issues studied in the report?

Severe Health Problems Experienced by Both Patients
The two patients were 49-year old men in good physical condition at the time they received the ASR hip implants. Like the countless patients mentioned above, each of these men experienced significant symptoms associated with cobaltism. They also both required a second surgery.

At the end of one year, there were some serious symptoms present in both patients, such as dyspnea and progressive hip pain. The patients’ health deteriorated even more at two years and beyond. At that point, the patients were experiencing headaches, irritability, anxiety, fatigue, tinnitus, hearing loss, hip creaking, pain at rest, hand tremors, cognitive decline and depression, anxiety and incoordination. The report also stated that surgeons need to be aware that the high serum cobalt levels found in some patients with metal-on-metal hips may cause neurological or cardiac damage that is in part reversible with timely revision surgery.

Conclusion
There is no doubt that the defective implants have caused disastrous health consequences. But patients suffering from the faulty implants should not compound the problem by letting the pain linger and their claims go unaddressed. Those patients deserve to be compensated and in order to receive the appropriate compensation they need effective representation. The attorneys at McIntyre Law are actively involved in this litigation and are currently reviewing cases. If you have experienced pain, discomfort and other serious injuries as a result of these implants please contact us so we can help.