DePuy, a division of Johnson & Johnson, aggressively marketed their DePuy ASR XL hip implants as the newest and best artificial hips in 2005 when they were allowed on the market. Unlike pharmaceutical drugs which must undergo a rigorous testing process, the DePuy ASR XL hips were similar enough to already approved hip devices that they didn’t receive the scrutiny that other types of medical devices do.
Soon after the DePuy hips were put on the market and surgeons began implanting them in patients, the problems began. Patients began complaining of joint pain and difficulty walking. Surgeons noticed that the surrounding area of the hip implant had also been affected by the metal on metal hip device. These same surgeons complained to DePuy and notified them that the hips were failing at an unacceptable rate. DePuy officials scoffed at the suggestion and told the surgeons that the failures were due to mistakes made by the physicians themselves. They said that the doctors weren’t following proper procedure. Once the DePuy hip recall occurred last year, more bad news about the hips surfaced. The metal on metal design of the DePuy hips could cause to metallosis or metal poisoning where particles of cobalt and chromium fall into the bloodstream as a result of the metal on metal grinding.
So, besides the obvious symptoms of joint pain and difficulty walking, patients were faced with a potentially more dangerous, more sinister type of problem. Their hips may be defective and the patient would have no visible warning signs! That’s why we’ve asked anyone who suspects they have a DePuy hip to consult their surgeon immediately.