The DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. has been questioned with the way it handled its hip recall, which has resulted to various lawsuits filed. Critics alleged that the company did it to save money rather than for the patients whose health may have been compromised more because of their defective hip implant devices.
DePuy has passed another product through the beleaguered FDA approval process, as if the companys troubles are not enough.
A worldwide recall has been announced by the DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., a division of Johnson & Johnson, of two of its hip replacement systems, the ASR XL Acetabular System and the DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing Platform last August 2010. Patients implanted with these devices reported experiencing pain, swelling and difficulty walking which are among the symptoms of metallosis. Not only is this not the first time that J&J had recalled a product, this is also not the first time that the process it used in the recall has been questioned.
J&J had recalled more than 50 products for the past two years ranging from Children's Tylenol to insulin cartridges to contact lenses. The way J&J handled the recalls has in some cases sparked Congressional and federal criminal investigations. One example is what has been tagged as the phantom recall of the painkiller Motrin wherein J&J had hired a contractor to secretly buy the product from stores before it alerted the general public in 2009 that the pills did not dissolve properly.
According to critics, by settling claims with patients before they fully understand their legal rights or the likely cost of their hip-related medical costs in the future, DePuy is saving itself money. DePuy vehemently denied allegations insisting that it provided efficient assistance to patients and healthcare providers by hiring Broadspire to handle the recall. David Prince, professor of law at William Mitchell College of Law, said hiring Broadspire has the effect of distancing the company from patients but will make economic sense for J&J by saving the company the trouble of gearing up and organizing in-house.
According to Prince by pawning this process off on a third party, they don't have to deal face to face with patients, and may be less sensible to the human cost of what their product has done. Prince specializes in product liability and has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in the past. Implanted with DePuys ASR hip system is some 93,000 people worldwide. A Swiss medical device maker, Sulzer Medica AG, also recalled a hip implant in 2001 but this hip replacement recall is said to be three times larger and much more complex than that.
