New Zealand Herald Hip joint article sheds light on agony – DePuy ASR Hip Recall
By Phil Taylor 5:30 AM Saturday Aug 13, 2011 Source: New Zealand Herald
Mark Grennell was furious when he discovered that his faulty artificial hip joint could be the reason for his four years of pain and other health problems. Photo / Christine Cornege.
A light bulb went on for Mark Grennell when he read a Herald article about the failure of an artificial hip joint.
Suddenly, the debilitating undiagnosed pain that had eaten away at his mobility, caused him to pile on 80kg and give up his job made sense.
Mr Grennell was unaware his was one of the joints subject to a world-wide recall.
Subsequent blood tests have revealed high readings for cobalt and chromium – materials the troubled ASR joint is made of.
This as well as his pain and suspected looseness of his hip joint indicate the prosthesis may have long been failing.
“I was incandescent with rage when I read that article,” said Mr Grennell, 49. “Why hadn’t I been contacted?”
The ASR hip joint is made by De Puy, a subsidiary of medical giant Johnson & Johnson. It has been implanted in 93,000 patients around the world, including 507 in New Zealand, and its failure has been described overseas as “one of the biggest disasters in orthopaedic history”.
Mr Grennell showed his GP the Herald article last month. “He said, ‘Oh my God’, and wrote away for my hip operation records.”
These confirmed Mr Grennell had the ASR total hip replacement.
Shortly after, he received a letter from his surgeon. It indicated he had the ASR, advised of steps to take and included a June statement from the Orthopaedic Association that said “all orthopaedic surgeons in New Zealand have been well informed of the ASR issue and have been asked to provide advice and information to those … patients who are potentially affected”.
Mr Grennell said the late advice wasn’t good enough when De Puy stopped selling the ASR implants in New Zealand in December 2009.
Medsafe, the Government agency tasked with ensuring that medical devices used here are safe, says Johnson & Johnson told it of the recall in August 2010 and advised all surgeons about the same time. Medsafe did not check the ASR hip system or post its recall on its website.
Mr Grennell, who lives in Tirau in the Waikato, had had hip x-rays to detect the cause of his pain but they were inconclusive.
“I was told there was nothing wrong with me,” he says. “I thought it was me, I thought I was a big wuss … but I’m one of the 507.”
At 1.85m, Mr Grennell was a fit 112kg when he had the total hip replacement operation four years ago to remove his arthritic hip the legacy of a childhood car accident.
A short period of improvement was followed by a long decline.
It is now a mission for him to hoist himself out of a chair. His weight has ballooned to 190kg and in April, he had to give up driving for a dress making firm, a job which involved lifting heavy rolls of fabric.
His wife works and he is housebound. “I want it replaced. My wife is stressed out. I can’t walk down the road and rent a video. I sit here and read books all day. I’m like an old man.”
Johnson & Johnson is paying out-of-pocket costs for patients who need the ASR replaced but because of ACC, New Zealanders can’t sue for pain and suffering.
Mr Grennell, who does not have medical insurance, is waiting to hear from the company and ACC.
Related articles
- Bruce Greenfield may be the last New Zealander implanted with a faulty hip joint (earlsview.com)
- How to Prevent Hip Dislocation After a Total Hip Replacement (earlsview.com)
- DePuy Pinnacle Hip Replacement Lawyers Meeting With MDL Judge (earlsview.com)
- Hip replacement and hip revision (earlsview.com)
- Veterans are Put through Another War – Hip Recall (earlsview.com)
- Primary Total Resurfacing Hip Replacement – Extracts from Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry – Annual Report 2010 (earlsview.com)
- Mr. Michael Solomon, Sydney Australia Surgeon Gives Advice on Hip Replacement (earlsview.com)
- Revealed: Britain’s top surgeons for hip replacement (earlsview.com)
- Australian TGA Response to Recall of DePuy ASR Hip Replacement (earlsview.com)
- DePuy Hip Recall Takes Toll on Johnson & Johnson Finances (earlsview.com)
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Just like Earl-I started to think after SEVEN years it must be ‘my body’ OR my incorrect thinking-as Pain Counsellors were informing me-hired through the ACC system to attempt me to drop my case, of nearly seven years . I tried desperately hard-to exit the private hospital when told by orthopaedic surgeon I consulted-that “against x-ray results’ he decided I urgently needed a hip replacement. Attempted to sign out of a private North Shore hospial-lots of proof of this.-feeling very uneasy at the reason for being there and the lack of information I had received. Thats a saga in itself-as to how I was co-ersed into going through with unwanted surgery.On waking in recovery-I KNEW something was radically wrong, Thought I had had a stroke, but was heart and Bp healthy. Later found to be correct, ( with diagnosis terminology not as correctly defined’as specialist definition of diagnosis).Immediately severe muscle weakness (could not move my right arm-to open right eyelid, blurred vision (still existing under stress today’-hand tremor-entire right side felt different’ and strange.
Burning all over my body-with a night nurse tepid bathing me around the clock. When tried to get out bed and WALK to toilet-discovered with total panic-that was unable to weight bear at all on right leg-had to be assisted in and out bed-this still remains today-NOW seven years later-with surgeon and anaethitist constantly telling me, all concerns on physical disability, weaknes and soaring blood pressure (unknown previously) would SETTLE DOWN,until-I had a backward fall in the hospital bathroom, cracking my skull. Thud could be heard down the corridor-so I was told. Even then constantly told-hip had not dislocated but an acc claim for bruising to elbows etc were noted. What a farce.-Surgeon in haste and speed surgery at the wrong end of day-and prevented me from leaving several hours prior-were not regognzing their mistake in causing femoral nerve damage. My own enquiries )multiple) were suggesting a lot more nerve damage than what has been recognized, and was not until 4 years later-that a great Team of Hospital Specialists entered the debacle, and assisted me ‘as much as they possibly could. From an active, energetic lifetime dancer, and every summer -daily- swimming, I was left a partly paralized person that has never been able to lead a normal ‘life agan’ cannot even trawl though sand to get to waters edge and swim.Could no longer participate
in family activity, could not walk or drive again for 18months-only locally and short duration before excessively tired, with leg spams and seizure. WHAT HAS HAPPENED-The lifetime search began for answers,I have never been able to navigate steps, slopes, ramps, or any other than flat terrain, and from precision mover with excellent body positioning-I have become a hermit in my home-with the necessity for Home Help Assistance. I had always known it was a surgeon mistake-rather than anaethitist-although his actions begged questioning- An active, energetic productive lifestyle and from enjoyable part time work, and voluntary organisation assistance, my life changed over night. in 2004. After a lifetime of excersise workoiut for 20 mins every morning of my life, … I have become totally dependent on others to assist me, and rarely venture out alone-owing to the constant 10/10 pain,shocking mobilty, with gait deraingement if not focussing on how I walk with a partly numb leg and foot-that was swollen and blue for long periods of time and now intermitent. Slowly good health, as well as disability was noted, and as one GP wrote to acc-she suffers from a raft of medical problems now,, including a known slight kidney impairment leading to grade 5 ‘end stage renal, and dialysis advocated.. Only through my own strong discipline, have remained slim with kidneys stable after three years of battling to retain some of my previous pre surgery lifestyle. Many other problems too numeros to mention-with ACC on going, as they only exist to de value the extent of injuries sustained in surgical proceedure-where it is NOW suspected that I am one of the recipients of faulty hip replacement, and my vigilant kidney specialist, currently re-searching How Much scarring of healthy kidneys is due to toxic metal seepage.- it is suspected a great deal. My battle with ACC continues with yet another review coming up soon and acting as Self Represented, although functional not able to do so-Law Firms charge $800 an opinion,My ANGER and resentment against this surgical Team is immense-and even today have NOT been notified of Faulty Hip-yet the evidence is right there on my hospital notes’ No one is being held accountable for my misery and pain, even though I try to remain bright, cheerful and optimisticFoced to retire at an early age than was intended-it is a daily struggle to ‘live life’ and participate in any activity. Life goes on-says ACC-and after 57 assesments- a lot paid for by myself, with trialled treatments -not often succesful,it becomes an emotional,physical, and finacial.struggle to cope well.
MY ANGER at the surgical team, local gp’s that were dismissive of the problems encountered in surgery, has come FULL CIRCLE to discover via the Herald-what I was suspecting of the past year+ and now have that track of enquiry confirmed, but no answer from any specialist in NZ-only from o;seas”With ACC entering into this long drawn out farcical
debacle-one just kisses ‘Living Life’ goodbye, as they only put band aids over wounds-pretending to go thru the motions but are working against having to payout anything..constantly. Thats another story for another day-Earl I feel for you, and through the Herald exposure-I pray the 570 of us affected by these implants will get the proper re-dress deserved and finally recognized. On top of all the above-falls with injury are constant, never ending, and ACC dont even allow these to be recognized any longer. Balance has been affected by lack oxygen to the brain and affects spacial orientation, and precision movemenet (Fine Motor Skills-impairment). As much as a surgical error I would suggest’ as Toxic Metal Poisoning’is yet to be fully determined,but no doubt the symptoms and signs are identical to that which has recently come to light in NZ. Have helped many with their cases with ACC-when ny own reaches Case Conclusion-prepared to help anyone else in same situation who gives up too soon when battling the ‘might and heavy weight of ACC-Like Earl, the financial, emotional, physical pressure incurred through all these years of knowledge seeking..takes its toll. My anger is at boiling point with a surgeon who has not even notified me of this possibility..and now against the Company that was selling these devices to our country-generic and cheap,at best-worst case scenerio is what has been so adequately portrayed through the Herald.THanks
Jill
words fail me but to a little extent I understand – and I hope that more speak up – the ACC is sheltering the big orthopaedic companies and what do we get – pain and suffering and even more expense just trying to stay alive.
Earl
Jill
I have published your story, minus your name – unless you would like me to include it – and any pictures too – hopefully your brutal honesty will reach out to others who are suffering under the system.
My NZ surgeon did a shoddy job according to the doctors here in Australia – and he told me it was stainless steel when clearly it was cobalt chrome. No accountability.
My revision is on 1 Sept – I have very mixed feelings about this and more than a little anger and resentment.
Earl
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