Product Liability Attorneys

Norfolk, Newport News, and Roanoke, Virginia

ASR Hip Replacement Recall

 

Hip replacements are prosthetic devices designed to improve mobility for people with disability or pain in their hip. Hip replacements are supposed to be long-term implants, lasting fifteen years or more. Unfortunately, many hip replacements may be defective and fail long before their projected lifetime. This can lead to increased disability and pain, subsequent surgeries, and in some cases even systemic problems. The ASR is a hip replacement with a high early failure rate, and on August 26, 2024 its manufacturer, DePuy Orthopaedics, a Johnson & Johnson company, pulled it from the market due to its failure rates.,

 

If you or someone you love has suffered ongoing pain, serious disability, and revision surgeries due to a premature failure of an ASR hip replacement, you may be eligible for compensation from the manufacturer. Kalfus & Nachman, Attorneys at Law will fight for compensation for you. Please contact our experienced product liability attorneys in VA today to learn how we can help.

 

About the ASR Hip Replacement Systems

 

There are three different versions of the ASR, designed to replace some or all of the components of the hip. The hip joint is made up of two parts, a socket in the pelvis known as the acetabulum, and the ball of the femur--the long bone in your leg that runs from the hip to the knee. The models of the ASR are classified according to which part or parts of the hip joint are to be replaced:

 

• The ASR Hip is a metal cup that replaces the acetabulum.
• The ASR Hip Resurfacing system is two metal cups, one that sits inside the acetabulum and one that covers the ball of the femur.
• The ASR XL Acetabular System consists of three parts: an acetabular cup, a metal ball that replaces the femoral ball, and a stem that attaches to the ball and fits inside the femur.

 

Only the Hip and XL models of the ASR were approved for use in the US by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), so only those two models are affected by this defective product recall.

 

The Cause of the Hip Replacement Recall

 

There have long been concerns about the ASR hip replacement systems, but DuPuy has resisted making a recall. In 2008 and 2009 alone, 300 complaints about the ASR were reported to the FDA, and over 90% of these complaints required replacement of the implant. In 2009, Australian officials approached DePuy about problems with the ASR, but the company did not decide to withdraw the implant from the market there until December, after it was confronted with actual failure statistics. When the National Joint Registry (NJR) of England and Wales also showed a very high failure rate (12-13% within five years of implantation), DePuy decided to initiate a worldwide recall, but not until after the company had already announced it was fading out the product for declining sales.

 

Other Concerns with Hip Replacement

 

A related and potentially more serious problem with the ASR hip replacement system, is caused by the implant's metal-on-metal joint design. In metal-on-metal joint replacements, the metal parts can grind together, releasing numerous tiny metal fragments. Locally, these fragments can irritate and damage nearby tissues. They can also enter the bloodstream and spread throughout the body. Locally, they are known to cause ongoing pain and loss of adjacent bone and soft tissue. This kind of tissue loss makes replacement of the ASR complicated, often requiring more than one surgery, and sometimes leading to permanent disability.

 

The metal fragments entering the bloodstream include some known to be toxic, such as chromium and cobalt. No one has yet established what constitutes a safe level of these metal fragments. As a result of these metal fragments, ASR hip replacement recipients could suffer permanent systemic damage that may include fatal kidney and bowel inflammation,  or heart, nerve, and thyroid problems.

 

Help Is Available

 

 If you or a loved one has ongoing pain or disability or had subsequent surgeries due to an ASR hip replacement failure, the defective product lawyers in Virginia of Kalfus & Nachman, Attorneys at Law can help. We are prepared to fight for your rights and work to get you the compensation you deserve for your injuries. Please email us today or call 800-361-0430 to learn what we can do for you.