More information continues to come out regarding the DePuy ASR hip implant and the problems associated with the device that led to a recall.
It was reported that, in 2009, the Food and Drug Administration sent DePuy a letter denying approval of one version of the hip implant device that was currently available in other parts of the world. Their denial was the result of reports from those countries that suggested the DePuy implant did not perform as adequately as DePuy’s data would have officials believe. They also pointed to tests which showed patients experiencing high levels of metal ions in the blood.
Then, weeks after the letter was released, Johnson & Johnson, DePuy’s parent company, decided to phase out the implants and sell off the remaining inventory for use in patients. This was done instead of an immediate recall, which wasn’t issued until August 2010, a year after the aforementioned letter.
DePuy claims that they phased out the product because of diminishing sales figures, not because of safety. What’s shocking to note is that the device approved for use in the United States in 2005, which was based on the same component as the item the letter concerns, actually has a higher failure rate than the unapproved device.
This truly saddens me as a Los Angeles personal injury attorney. It’s one thing for a mistake to be made, but quite another for evidence to pop up which seems to correlate with behavior that endangers more lives. If wrongdoing is eventually proven, it’s my opinion that all victims receive just compensation for their pain.