As medical science has continued to advance as a result of dedicated research and development, more and more medical conditions have become problems with solutions as opposed to the past when people were simply forced to suffer through them for their entire lives. One of those issues was chronic hip pain and degeneration, and millions of people have existed in a state of misery due to the extreme pain and immobility that such a problem causes.
However, in recent years, several products have come to the marketplace that allows for patients who struggle with bad hips to have the joints replaced with different parts. These procedures are generally low-risk in nature, and many recover from the surgery quickly and are able to restore themselves to an existence that’s pain-free and much more enjoyable.
Unfortunately, new innovations sometimes ultimately turn out to be more problematic than beneficial, and this knowledge tends to arise well after a product has been released into the market. This is especially troubling when it comes to hip replacement parts, as those potentially defective products are already inside a patient’s body, leaving little in the way of options for necessary corrections. Below is a brief overview of just one of these products.
One of the companies at the forefront of the development of hip replacement parts and components was Zimmer Holdings, which released the Durom Cup hip replacement component in Europe in 2003. Initially, results were generally positive, so Zimmer petitioned the FDA in the United States for approval to release the Durom Cup onto the American market. In 2006, Zimmer received that FDA approval.
However, it wasn’t long before several prominent doctors in the hip replacement field began to notice some troubling trends, and they ultimately felt compelled to speak out against the Durom Cup publicly because of a lack of proper response from Zimmer to these situations. Generally, the product was seen as defective because of the excruciating pain that many patients were forced to endure after their procedures.
The only real corrective option available to patients who had suffered from the side effects of the Durom Cup was an additional hip replacement surgery and a new hip replacement component. Not only was an additional surgery quite painful, but every surgery of this sort tends to cost anywhere between $30,000 and $40,000 per attempt.
Ultimately, the publicity generated by these prominent doctors led to action from Zimmer Holdings. In July of 2008, Zimmer announced that it was recalling the Durom Cup from distribution in the United States and would not continue to sell it. One of the problems, however, was that an estimated 13,000 Durom Cup components had been used in hip replacement procedures from the time of its release until the date of the recall, and many of them could continue to be at risk.
If you or someone you love has suffered as a result of depending on the Durom Cup hip replacement component, you need to contact a defective medical device attorney as soon as possible to schedule an initial consultation. You may have legal rights that need to be pursued, so schedule your consultation today.
