Each year, tens of thousands of Americans undergo hip replacement surgery to ease joint pain and improve their mobility and general quality of life. For many, the surgery is successful and without incident. For others, hip replacement surgery results in a whole new set of symptoms and problems.
If you have had a defective hip replacement, you might run into some legal issues and need a law firm to assist you in your efforts to receive compensation.
Currently, there are two general types of hip replacements. Metal-on-metal (MoM), and metal-on-plastic. According to the Arthritis Foundation, metal-on-metal replacements are six times more likely to fail than metal-on-plastic hip replacements.
This high failure rate has caused hip replacements to come under scrutiny by the Food and Drug Administration and resulted in legal proceedings to assist the devices’ recipients.
Two large manufacturers of MoM replacements are the Johnson & Johnson DePuy Orthopaedics — makers of the DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing and Pinnacle devices — and Biomet, a medical device manufacturer who makes the M2a hip replacement device. Both of these manufacturers — and others — have had hip replacement cases brought against them for their faulty hip replacement devices.
Some metal-on-metal hip replacements can begin to wear as the metal pieces rub against each other. This causes the metal to start flaking or to release metal ions into the body. As the flakes of ions begin to move through the joint, they can cause a myriad of other problems — they become embedded in the soft tissue around the hip joint, enter the bloodstream and cause a condition known as metallosis, or metal poisoning.
Recipients that experience problems with their hip replacement implant may encounter additional difficulty walking, additional hip pain, stiffness, headaches, changes in the eyesight, or other issues that may present as something other than a hip problem.
If you or a loved one live in the Detroit area, have received a Biomet or DePuy hip replacement, and have been diagnosed with a malfunctioning device, you deserve compensation for the additional medical bills and the reduction in quality of life you are experiencing.
The experienced personal injury lawyers at Cochran, Kroll & Associates, P.C., work to ensure you receive the remuneration you deserve. Call 866-MICH-LAW for a free initial consultation so we can get you back on the road to recovery.
