Defective DePuy Metal Hip Replacements Cause Serious Injuries

Products liability attorneys protecting clients throughout Tennessee from offices in Nashville, Knoxville and Hendersonville

The DePuy ASR XL Acetabular System and ASR Hip Resurfacing system are manufactured by DePuy Orthopaedics, which is a subsidiary of pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson. These two hip replacement devices have since been recalled because of their higher than normal failure rates caused by the metal-on-metal design. The metal ball in a metal socket grates one against the other as the patients move around, releasing metal fragments into the surrounding tissues.

Because of the upwards of 40% failure rate of the DePuy ASR XL Acetabular System and ASR Hip Resurfacing system, thousands of people have had to suffer the pain of going through a second, revision surgery to have the defective hip implant removed and a new one put it. At the Rocky McElhaney Law Firm, we help people around Tennessee who have been injured from defective medical devices from all across the country. We are ready to meet with you in our Nashville, Knoxville or Hendersonville offices to discuss the specifics of your case.

What injuries are associated with defective DePuy metal hip replacement implants?

The DePuy ASR Acetabular hip implant was not tested in human bodies before being released to the market in 2005. Testing and clinical trials are costly and time consuming for manufacturers, but the FDA has a process called the 510(k) Premarket Notification Process, which allows medical devices to forgo testing if they are similar enough to another device that has already been approved. Thus, DePuy released a faulty product from the start.

The defective design of the metal on metal hip implant has caused many adverse side effects in patients including:

• Higher than normal failure rate
• Metallosis – The metal fragments that get released during the grinding of the metal on metal parts begin to build up in the soft tissues surrounding the hip joint
• Necrosis – Bone death caused by limited blood supply when the hip replacement device reduces the blood supply to the rest of the femur.
• Osteolysis – In the body's attempt to eliminate the metal debris from the hip implant, the bone around the implant begins to become eroded by the body's autoimmune system.
• Bone fractures
• Revision and reconstructive surgery

Some of the signs that a hip implant may be failing include pain upon walking, pain when standing up from a seated position and groin pain. Anyone who has a DePuy ASR hip implant who has experienced these kinds of symptoms may want to talk to their doctor right away.