subject: Australian Patients Affected By Failed Asr Hip Implants Reached 430 [print this page] The Sydney Morning Herald reported that some 430 Australian patients are experiencing having their DePuy Articular Surface Replacement (ASR) hip implants failing on top of other complications they are suffering as a result of it. 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. However, the first country to have acted on the two DePuy hip implants was Australia in December 2009 with Europe initiating its own recall a year later. At least 300 hip replacement lawsuits were filed in Britain following the worldwide recall.
According to the news report, the 430 patients needed to undergo revision surgery to have the implants removed. Including the 430 patients, there are about 5,500 Australian who received the apparently defective ASR hip implant devices of DePuy. As an aid to affected patients, an Australian Senate committee has called for the immediate and better action from the Australian Department of Health and Ageing as well as from the DePuy Orthopaedics with thousands of Australian having received the device.
Among the actions suggested by the Australian committee which conducted an investigation on the DePuy recall is for their health officials to focus on informing doctors, patients and the general public to the DePuy device recall, its adverse effects on patients, and the options for treatment. 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.
DePuys ASR XL Acetabular System and ASR Hip Resurfacing System became available in the Australian market in July 2003. 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. The British Joint Registry collaborated with the findings with its own study results which determined that 12 to 13 percent of DePuys ASR devices failed within five years. Eventually, it was the release of this study which prompted the worldwide recall of the DePuy hip systems.
According to medical experts interviewed by the New York Times, the design of the hip implant was said to be the culprit why the device fails five years after it has been implanted instead of its average lifespan of 15 to 20 years. DePuy had thought of giving patients a wider range of motion by designing a shallower cup and removing the plastic liner from the inside of the implant. However, 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 leading to complications. The DePuy hip replacement recallmay have been put in place but only after some 93,000 patients have already received the apparently defective device.
