Wednesday, December 19, 2012

The Misfortunes Of Having A Metal On Metal Hip Replacement System



In 2009, a 57 year old patient named Susy Mansfield required a replacement hip. Thus, her doctor recommended a new and untried hip replacement device. Additionally, the hip device was all-metal. “He said, 'You're young. Metal is good for younger people. It's going to last a lot longer," recalled Mansfield.

In contrast to metal on metal hips, traditional synthetic hips are normally made of hard plastic and metal. These artificial hips are known to deteriorate after ten to fifteen years, particularly in individuals who have active lifestyles like Susy Mansfield. She has a recycling business and likes engaging in outdoor activities, such as kayak, hiking, and windsurfing.

Manufacturers of metal on metal hip replacement systems believe that an all-metal hip meant greater durability. They have designed these hips specially for younger patients who are more active. Unfortunately, all-metal hips were not the right choice for Mansfield and thousands of other hip replacement patients.

Not long ago, Mansfield was in an operating room at a general hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. She had been undergoing revision surgery to get rid of the metal on metal hip device implanted on her more than 3 years past. The device corroded and damaged the tissues and bones around it.  

Before undergoing hip revision surgery, Mansfield suffered from chronic pain that got worse. “It's terrible,” she admitted a couple of days before the surgery. And then she added, “It's a hot pain ... that's there all the time. Every step is agony.” She had to take pain pills in order to sleep.

Later on, Mansfield discovered that the metallic hip she had before the revision surgery was one of the recalled hips of Depuy Orthopaedics, a division of the manufacturing giant Johnson & Johnson. She said that she only saw the recall announcement a year after reading a newspaper article about complications related to the artificial hips.

Metal on metal hip systems became popular during the time of Mansfield's first hip replacement surgery, more than 30% of hip replacement patients had chosen to get all-metal hip devices. During that time, over 70,000 hip replacement surgeries involving all-metal hips were done every year. However, the all-metal hips have declined in popularity since then. In fact, many patients have already filed hip replacement lawsuits.

According to Dr. Joshua Jacobs, the head of orthopedics at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, metal on metal hip devices have intolerably high failure rates. For this reason, over 5,000 hip replacement patients have filed lawsuits against all-metal hip device manufacturers. The process of filing these types of lawsuits may be confusing, fortunately, there are many dependable law firms to choose from.

According to consumer injury lawyers at the Rottenstein Law Group, “getting satisfaction from the company that harmed you shouldn’t be just more hardship. That’s why we do everything we can to streamline the process.“ Their website rotlaw.com contains valuable information on hip replacement cases.

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