As Published on the DePuy Hip Replacement WebsiteDePuy Hip Replacement

The Sydney Morning Herald had printed an article stating that some 430 patients in Australia who were implanted with the DePuy Articular Surface Replacement (ASR) hip implants had their device failing and had them suffering other complications. Johnson & Johnson division, the DePuy Orthopaedics Inc., initiated a worldwide recall of two of its hip replacement systems, the ASR XL Acetabular System and the DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing Platform in August of 2010.

Australia was the first country to withdraw the two DePuy hip implants in December 2009 followed by Europe a year later. Lawsuits followed in the aftermath of the worldwide recall with at least 300 hip replacement lawsuits filed in Britain.

The 430 patients had required a revision surgery to remove the implants, said the news report. Including the 430 patients, there are about 5,500 Australian who received the apparently defective ASR hip implant devices of DePuy. With thousands of Australians using the implant, better and immediate action from the DePuy Orthopaedics and the Australian Department of Health and Ageing have been urged by the Australian Senate committee to help the affected patients.

The country’s health officials should immediately alert doctors, patients, and the general public to the DePuy device recall, the implants’ adverse effects on patients and treatment options, said the Australian committee which investigated the DePuy recall.

According to the committee, the health department should also exert effort in searching for effective ways to monitor the cobalt and chromium levels in patients who had the metal-on-metal hip implants. Some patients would need to undergo a blood test to find out that they already have high levels of cobalt and chromium in their bloodstream.

DePuy’s ASR XL Acetabular System and ASR Hip Resurfacing System became available in the Australian market in July The Australian National Joint Registry was the first medical body to release data showing that the DePuy ASR devices have a premature failure rate between eight and 11 percent. Study conducted by the British Joint Registry confirmed the findings after it also determined that 12 to 13 percent of the DePuy’s ASR devices fail within five years. Eventually, it was the release of this study which prompted the worldwide recall of the DePuy hip systems.

In an interview with the New York Times, medical experts pointed to the design of the hip implant as the cause as to why the device fails five years after it was first used contrary to the supposed average 15 to 20 years lifespan of the devices. With the intention of giving patients a wider range of motion, Depuy had designed a shallower cup and removed the plastic liner from the inside of the implant.

Instead, complications arise when the friction of the ball portion of the hip implant against the socket wears away cobalt and chromium particles from the device and into the soft tissue around the area. Some 93,000 patients have already been implanted with the apparently defective device despite the DePuy hip replacement recall. DePuy hip replacement recall