On Depuy Lawsuits And An Overdue Asr Hip Recall

DePuy Orthopaedics, a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson, has yet to recall their hip replacement devices, particularly an ASR hip recall, in spite of their knowledge of its failure that resulted in so much resentment and the filing of hundreds of lawsuits. Though a recall was done in August for the ASR XL Acetabular System and the ASR Hip Resurfacing System, such action was a result of a rigorous lobbying by concerned parties.

The claims raised in DePuy lawsuits, ones that should have been also prompt an overdue ASR hip recall, were complaints received by the United States Food and Drugs Administration on ASR devices as early as 2008. In Australia alone where the ASR implants were widely in use, Australian National Joint Replacement Registrys Professor Stephen Graves reported to DePuy on the considerable failure occurring in the subject hip implants. It even took Prof. Graves and the Registry seven times to advise DePuy on this matter.

If ever the claims were true, these could only be blamed on DePuy, and it would help to identify the problem that would hasten an ASR hip recall if ever there was a similar joint registry in the United States that existed. Further, the same situation would less likely occur in the wake of the inception of the American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR) by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. In October, there were 15 hospitals in the nation that have commenced pilot programs that entail keeping an eye on individual artificial hips implanted by surgeons and hospitals participating in the program. States one orthopedic surgeon, Dr. William J. Maloney, The advantages of a registry are many. You can pool patients, provide contemporary information and do post-market surveillance. It can lead to evidence-based practice, generate research questions and be, in and of itself, a research tool. The program resulted, at most, in a decrease of about 10% in the need for corrective surgery as noted by same registries in Sweden, Great Britain, Canada, and Australia. Indeed a good sign for both patients and supplier.

It is notable that the National Joint Registry for England and Wales can be credited for DePuys action to declare the recall from the global market. The establishment of the AJRR can only be taken as beneficial to the discovery of future similar problems. Nonetheless, the pains endured by ASR hip replacement victims are undeniably a case to compel an ASR hip recall.