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Former Swimmer Files Suit over DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing System

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A former competitive swimmer has filed suit in the U.S. over injuries she sustained as a result of DePuy Orthopaedic’s now-recalled ASR Hip Resurfacing System. According to her lawsuit, Charlotte Mustard suffered severe and debilitating injuries after receiving the DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing System in while living in the United Kingdom (U.K.) in 2008.

The DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing System was recalled last year, along with the DePuy ASR Acetabular System, after data from the National Joint Registry of England and Wales showed that 1 out of every 8 patients (12%-13%) who had received the devices had to undergo revision surgery within five years of receiving. The DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing System was used in the U.K., but was not approved by the FDA for sale in the U.S. The FDA did approve the ASR Acetabular System, and it was widely used in the U.S.

Mrs. Mustard is a former member of the Great Britain Swim Team and the University of Alabama swim team, and is a former world record holder. She developed osteoarthritis at a young age, which required that she undergo hip replacement surgery in January 2008. According to her lawsuit, the DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing System was implanted in her left hip when Mrs. Mustard was 39 years old.

According to her lawsuit, since her 2008 surgery, Mrs. Mustard has suffered severe and debilitating injuries, including hip pain, stiffness, twinges, heart palpitations and vision problems. She is deeply concerned about her long-term health and is devastated over the impact on her quality of life, the complaint states.

Mrs. Mustard’s lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio – Western District. She is joined in her lawsuit by her husband, Jeremy.

The DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing System and DePuy ASR Acetabular System are all-metal hip implants consisting of chromium and cobalt components. In recent years, concerns over problems with metal-on-metal hip replacements have been growing. Last month, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) asked DePuy Orthopaedics and 20 other manufacturers of metal-on-metal hip implants to conduct safety studies aimed at determining if these devices are shedding dangerous amounts of metallic debris in patients

Since the DePuy hip implant systems were recalled last August, more than 1,000 lawsuits have been filed against DePuy Orthopaedics and its parent, Johnson & Johnson. Hundreds of such claims have been consolidated in a multidistrict litigation in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

DePuy ASR hip implant lawsuits allege that the devices can come loose, cause infection and fracture surrounding bone. The lawsuits further allege that wearing of the implants’ metal components allows microscopic shards of cobalt and chromium to make their way into the bloodstream, leading to dangerous levels of metal in blood and body tissues. As we’ve reported in the past, this can lead to even more serious long-term health problems including tissue breakdown, bone loss, and even the formation of non-cancerous tumors.

NewsInferno.com disclaimer: This article: Former Swimmer Files Suit over DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing System was posted on Tuesday, June 28th, 2011 at 11:00 am at NewsInferno.com and is filed under Defective Medical Devices.

 

Technorati Tags: DePuy, DePuy Hip Recall, DePuy Hip Recall Litigation, DePuy Lawsuit, FDA Hip Recall, Hip failure, Hip Replacement, Hip Resurfacing, Hip Revision, Johnson & Johnson, Metal on Metal Hips, MoM hips, Total Hip Replacement

 

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