Why the change of topics?
When I started this blog I intended to dedicate it entirely to cover topics from the maritime industry. As a little kid I dreamed about being a boat captain. Lead by these childish dreams I wanted to create a blog that will cover news about boats, vessels, ships, captains and admiralty lawyers. Soon I realized that writing about what's happening on the seas requires a certain type of experience and expertise in those fields, which I definitely lack. This is a big setback, especially if I want to write about it on a weekly basis, although I hope that you liked my first post about oil rig accidents. That is why I decided to change the direction of this blog, steering it towards topics covering legal news about recent lawsuits, defective product litigation cases and personal injury stories, although I will not fully abandon my initial intentions and from time to time I'll certainly post some maritime stories too.
The story of Depuy ASR hip implants
One of these new stories are about defective hip implants and there were plenty of news coverage about them lately because last week the FDA held an advisory committee meeting to address the concerns about metal on metal type of hip implants. These are medical devices that are surgically inserted to replicate the normal functioning of the hip joint, when the hip is damaged due to accidents or diseases like osteoarthritis, avascular necrosis, rheumatoid arthritis. The metal-on-metal implants, that are under scrutiny, have both the femoral head and the cup component made out of metal. Such implants caused the most problems when Depuy Orthopaedics Inc. introduced two hip implants the Depuy ASR XL Acetubular System and the Depuy ASR hip resurfacing system. These implants were widely adopted because they promised longer lifespan, and it could be used for patients wanting to lead a more active lifestyle, but it wasn't long before problems started to appear. Patients who received these, started complaining about pain and problems such as metal poisoning, tissue damage, tissue necrosis and high failure rates surfaced. Doctors and research studies indicated an above average failure rate of 12%, so instead of lasting 15 years, as it was first promised, these implants started failing only after 3 years with high frequency. Complaints kept rising and Depuy issued a recall of its ASR system in August 2010.
With the increase in the number of complaints by patients affected by these implants, lawsuits against the manufacturer have also kept rising. Patients are seeking compensation for damages caused by their defective Depuy ASR hip implants. The lawsuits are also seeking to prove if the company is liable for releasing a defectively designed implant and if it failed to adequately warn doctors and patients about the problems with their recalled implants.
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