What’s the Problem with the DePuy Hip Implant?
DePuy (MoM) hip replacements Recalls. In August 2010, DePuy Orthopaedics, a division of Johnson & Johnson, issued a  voluntary recall of the ASR™ Resurfacing System. This was as a consequence of new information from the UK National Joint Registry which indicated that the number of patients who required a second hip replacement procedure, called a revision surgery, was not in line with data previously reported by DePuy.

What are the Orthopaedic Surgeons saying?
Approximately 3,500 Irish people have been affected by the recall of DePuy’s ASR Hip Resurfacing System and the ASR Total Hip Replacement. Research by the British Orthopaedic Association has found that the rate of necessary revision surgeries for patients who received a DePuy ASR Hip Implant may be much higher than previously thought. The research indicates a revision rate ranging from 21% after four years to 49% after six years, nearly four times as high as the figures cited by DePuy in August 2010.

What are the Medical Device Regulators saying?
On 28 February, 2012 the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), issued updated advice to surgeons that patients with a particular type of Metal-on-Metal Hip Implant should be monitored annually for the life of the hip replacement. This updates previous advice from April 2010, that patients with this type of hip replacement need only be monitored for a minimum of five years after their operation.

What should you do if you have had a Depuy ASR Metal on Metal Hip Implant?
The MHRA is advising that reports of pain from this group of patients should be taken seriously, and that any Metal-on-Metal hip implant should be followed up regularly, as wearing and loosening of the components of the implant can lead to pain as well as soft tissue damage. Cobalt and chromium ion levels in the blood must also be monitored. Orthopaedic surgeons are advising that Ultrasound, as well as MRI, scans should be carried out to check for such abnormalities.

If you have any queries or concerns about your Metal-on-Metal DePuy Hip Implants you should contact your Orthopaedic Surgeon. The Health Service Executive has comprehensive patient information on their website, see the useful links section at the end of this article. Malcomson Law are currently representing over one hundred claimants who are likely to have to undergo revision procedures or, alternatively, have already undergone revision procedures as a result of being implanted with the DePuy ASR™component. This type of litigation is extremely complex and difficult to advance. The specialist health team at Malcomson Law is headed by Raymond Bradley, Managing Partner. Raymond has extensive experience of taking health related cases in the Irish High Court, an unrivalled record of involvement in high-profile cases of medical negligence, and in representing victims of health scandals at public inquiries and compensation tribunals.

Over a period of 20 years we have represented numerous claimants in various class claim actions, both in Ireland and in other jurisdictions. These actions related to defective products including blood products, pharmaceutical products and medical devices. In that regard, we are very familiar with the principles that are required for the purpose of advancing such defective product litigation. If you have a DePuy Metal on Metal Hip Implant please phone us at 01 87 444 22 and a client care executive will be in happy to help you. Our client care executive’s are non-lawyers, with a considerable track record of helping people through the many difficult issues that arise during the processing of a claim.