Tags
Avascular necrosis, Daytona Beach Florida, DePuy, Food & Drug Administration, Gillespy, Hip Replacement, Johnson, Los Angeles, Orthopedic, surgery
My name is Tim Petri. I am 46 years old and reside in The Daytona Beach Florida area. I am sharing a horrific experience that I have been having since about May of 2011, regarding a failed hip replacement device which was implanted in my right hip by Dr XXXX of Daytona Beach.
The hip implant was a DePuy ceramic on metal device which was approved on June 14th 2011 by the FDA as a token replacement for the ever-failing DePuy metal on metal implant, the one that was recalled and is currently being litigated in Los Angeles with thousands of patients (or victims) who had this metal on metal part implanted for years with the manufacturers knowledge that it was a dangerous part and had several very dangerous side effects.
My story began in May when I was having pain in my right hip and went into the local ER to have it checked out. An x-ray was taken, and the ER doctor informed me that I would need to see an Orthopedic Surgeon as soon as possible, however could not tell me what the problem was. I was referred to Dr XXXXX of Dayona Beach. I saw Dr XXXXX a week or so later and another x-ray was taken in his office.
Shortly thereafter I was informed that I had a somewhat rare disease called Avascular Necrosis, or AVN. I was told that the disease ceases blood flow form joint areas, leaving the bone to dissolve like chalk and that in my case my right hip was history. I would need a total hip replacement soon. Having given no alternative methods for treating this disease, I agreed to the surgery, and as a side note, agreed to allow the Dr. use parts of my surgery as a “teaching” tool for the public to view live on the WWW and for doctors to get a glimpse on how to properly do this procedure by watching Dr XXXXX perform the surgery, and field questions at the same time from the internet audience.
This occurred on June 28th, 2011. Many questions were answered by the doctor as he proceeded to saw, clamp and insert the DePuy hip relacement into my hip, while I was sedated. Since it was done live, I have had the luxury of viewing it many times on my CD or just going to the link on line, which ran for 1 year on Halifax Hospital’s Website. It actually appeared more as a 45 minute commercial than a “teaching tool” after review, however I will move on to the part about my experience with this Doctor, and the parts he put inside me called a Pinnacle, and as I mentioned, ceramic on metal, recently approved for use about 2 weeks before my surgery.
I went through the surgery ok, left the Hospital on July 1st 2011 and began Physical Therapy as prescribed. My leg felt “ok” but very sore for several months, and I eventually began walking on my own again, however not without an unusual sharp pain straight down my right thigh. After about 10 months I phoned Dr. XXXX to inquire about the pain. He said just work through it that it could take time to heal.
In August of 2012, about 13 months out of the surgery, I was at home walking from one room to another, when suddenly my right leg “fell off” my hip. That’s the only way I could describe it. Paralyzing, drop to the floor, agonizing pain and inability to move the leg at all. As it turns out, it would be the first of 10 dislocations of the right hip I would have during the next 10 weeks or so.
Each time, I was taken by ambulance from my home, an x-ray was done, I was sedated, and several people teamed up on top of me to force the hip back into place.
As these incidents were taking place, the only feedback from my surgeon was “ there is nothing wrong with you, you are a chronic dislocator” which I was told after my 4th and 8th dislocations. I later, after reading his notes which I attained came to find out that his justification for allowing me to go on in agonizing, fearful life with this problem, was that he thought I was possibly a drug seeker, doing all this on purpose for the shot you get in the ER to relieve the pain.
As a matter of fact, the good Dr. was following my trips to the ER all along, even ordering one ER doctor that if came in dislocated, he should NOT relocate me, but leave me as I was and refuse to treat me.
Inhumane as it sounds, that is what occurred, and around my 8th or 9th dislocation, an ER Doctor refused to relocate my hip. It took an attorney on the phone to remind him that no matter what Dr XXXXX told him to do or not to do, I was an ER patient in need of urgent care.
So the ER Doctor did change his mind.
I was determined to hold Dr XXXXX accountable for his unreal disregard for the suffering I had been through for months, and went one last time to his office, asking him very nicely to PLEASE go back inside me and see what went wrong.
He took an x-ray in his office (Sept 2012) and reiterated to me that there was nothing and I was still a chronic dislocator, just dislocating my right side for personal gain….but the x-ray he took that day, along with his exam, showed that everything was in perfect place, and he refused to go back in and get to the root of the problem, offering me a 20 minute massage/manipulation under sedation as his only offer.
Realizing I was dealing with a less than caring man, I declined the massage, and documented an email to him that I would no longer need his services. I spent the next few weeks trying to find any Orthopedic Surgeon who would look at me, but none wanted to get involved or be the one to open me up and find error, or “sweep up his broken glass” shall I say.
That is until I met a very caring and competent Surgeon, who reviewed my records and agreed to meet with me. He 1st asked me why a revision surgery was not done after 1 dislocation. I was without answer. He then informed me that it is , in the Orthopedic community, a given that after a THR, if the person dislocates, a revision surgery is done. Never had he heard of 10 times without treatment.
He took his own x-ray and within 30 minutes it was on a screen and he was pointing out that the placement of the cup was upside down, or conducive to dislocation.
He then asked me if my first Doctor had informed me that my disease had spread all the way into my left hip, almost to the point of collapse. I was astounded and said “no, he never told me”.
The surgeon, Mr YYYYYY of Orlando, said that Dr XXXXXX would have had to see it if he just took an x-ray a month before. So, Dr XXXXX left me with a hanging leg and a disease ridden left hip without even informing me.
Dr YYYYYY, got to the point and said he needed to do 2 surgeries, and soon. A few weeks later I was having a total revision on my right hip, and a core decompression/ bone graft on my left to save it. That was 2 months ago.
The post- operative report states that Dr YYYYY, once he was in there, found he needed to make 4 major changes to the original THR;
- Increasing neck length 1 size
- increasing the head size for stability
- revising the positioning of the acetabular cup for stability and
- Putting a posterior lip on the polyethylene for stability.
The report states that the hip was easily dislocated before he operated, and that he was unable to dislocate it once the proper sizes and parts were in place. He also noted that I have severe AVN in the left hip, which would be visible and very obvious on plain film (x-ray) such as the one Dr XXXXX took a month before.
Once surgery was over, I was given the ceramic ball and the metal cup back, to view the damage to both from dislocating. The ceramic ball scraped the metal cup all up and scraped small chunks right off of it. My local attorney, Paul Bernardini came to the hospital in Orlando and took pictures of the parts and their obvious damage. I retain the parts today.
In summary, I was treated by a surgeon initially who was apparently more concerned about his TV commercial than getting the right size parts in my body, and who also treated me inhumanely, allowing me to continue to dislocate over and over again.
Hundreds of seniors here in Florida are treated by him all the time, and I wonder how many have died due to lack of due follow up or due care and apathy this Doctor has.
As for the parts, much ado is being made metal on metal being dangerous – well, I have the “new and improved” part that is all scraped and scarred up from the ceramic substitute DePuy through in the hat as a token to replace the metal on metal issue. No difference. Ceramic scrapes metal too. I have the parts to prove it.
Now, as I write this, I am recovering from my 3rd hip surgery in the last year and a half. Broke, no income, lost all that time, and went through a living hell because of the incompetency of a Doctor and His supplier of implants, DePuy, who did nothing to avoid the problem they were having in the first place, selling bad and dangerous parts. My part does the same thing metal on metal does. I have had 2 preventable surgeries, and lost everything we owned over the last 1/1/2. I hope people will take note that if DePuy lied about one product, what’s to make you think they did not again? The clinical testing shows nothing, and I do believe they have used this combo years ago and it failed then too. Is it that easy to fool the FDA? I don’t know but I am paying for it, big time.
My local attorney is Paul Bernardini of Ormond Beach and my email is if anyone has questions. This doctor and these manufacturers should not be trusted with human lives, period.
Tim Petri
2/1/2013
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Connie McLaughlin-Miley said:
Tim,
Your story is heart wrenching. The greed and cruelty is unimaginable. How is your recovery going at this time? Hang in there.
Connie
Timothy Petri said:
Connie, thanks for you’re kind thoughts. I am thankful to God that I finally found an honest surgeon who did the last 2 surgeries, and my recovery has included no dislocations! I also am still amazed that any human could watch as another suffered like that, however pride and ego seem to play a big part in some doctor’s persona. Thanks and will keep updates going!
Tim Petri said:
Hi there, I am posting a link on my current status and hope you all will share!
http://funds.gofundme.com/index.php?route=edit2/customize&ea=1&url=HipTim
Judith Elliott said:
After 4 years of intense episodes of pain with Biomet M-O-M hips, my Dr finally ordered blood testing for metals. They were very high, and revisions were performed with Biomet metal-on-ceramic implants. The cobalt is going down, but chromium is rising to a poisonous level again. I cannot face more surgery. I’ve had 7 hip surgeries, a dislocation, and a near-fatal sepsis requiring 9 weeks of expensive antibiotics. Those were discontinued after developing profound bilateral vestibular loss, with permanent vertigo. Instead of traveling,working part-time, and enjoying my retirement, I am left permanently disabled and dependent, with joint infection requiring antibiotics twice daily for life. I have to use a walker and I’m unable to drive or perform household tasks. It is a matter of time until I suffer another dislocation and/ or flare-up of the infection. Biomet ruined my life. If not for my supportive family I would have no will to live. Biomet arrogantly refuses to recall their poisonous products, and still pushes them on the market. I hope all patients affected will seek legal recourse; financial loss for them is the only small way those greedy uncaring people can be made to pay for the lives they have endangered and ruined.
Timothy Petri said:
That is horrific Judith. I know how it is to begin to lose you’re hope for ever being somewhat normal. My problems occurred as I was caring for my 3 girls that are 2, 5 and 15 each night while my wife worked. I had most of my dislocations while with them and was on the floor paralyzed from the dislocation, trying to call 911 and a babysitter while in excruciating pain. After the first few problems, I actually expected my doctor to quickly offer a revision, maybe even some sympathy! Instead I got what I got. Nothing but an egotistical ignorant pig who literally monitored my dislocations but refused to fix them. Its inhumane. As far as the companies that make these products, it is well documented on this site how the numbers and success rates are so skewed it is a joke. I guess not many people look into it. I could not even get the maker to share with me the clinical trial results they found to justify even presenting the ceramic on metal to the FDA. Depuy’s comment to me was as follows ” All I can say is that it is no better and no worse than the Metal on Metal”– thats a quote. Now I really got confused so went to the FDA. Asked how and why the part was approved. Nothing. When I pushed a little they said I can fill out a freedom of information act form and MAYBE they could disclose more info. I suspect the info will be a colorful graph set with bogus numbers and charts but no actual human trial results. As for you and you’re life, I know that God had to see me through this because I was ready to quit after about 5 dislocations.. 3 surgeries now in 1/1/2 years. Let me tell you this, no matter how bad it is, someone has it worse, so I encourage you to try and look at anything positive in you’re life (family,etc) and stay focused on what is right in you’re life. Don’t get me wrong, I am going to go after these people until I expose them. In the mean time, I try to take some joy from my kids, and Peace from my Lord. Thanks for sharing you’re terrible story, in time these people will be held accountable.
Sincerely,
Tim Petri
Jill Cleggett said:
Words fail me, and we are supoosed to have some FAITH in our Doctors, Specialist.
Let alone the FDA’s of any country. Just know you are not alone-may take longer than
we all, anticipate, but justice will be served somewhere. That I believe firmly.and keeps
me going. Supportive family, friends and your belief system, is imperitive to keep on top. God Bless
Timothy Petri said:
Jill, thank you for you’re comment. It is always good to know I am not the only one amazed that something like this could happen! I have received word from down under that I am not the only one by a long shot. Something needs to be done, and this site is a great start!
Judith Elliott said:
It truly is somewhat comforting to know that there are other victims of those heinous, greedy companies. We do not have to suffer in silence; let’s get our stories out there to sway public opinion against those corporations, on the Internet and in the courts! The outcome of the first DePuy bellweather trial, now in progress in L.A., will have a HUGE influence on the thousands of cases against DePuy AND the other corporations who are desperately trying to weasel their way out of proscecution.
Timothy Petri said:
Judith, it is very necessary for this to occur, for us to start standing up and letting people know that we are a very large number, we just happened to be spread out. We need to speak out and come together like on here so the truth comes out! I am speechless..to say the least at what goes on in the name of the $$$$. The ways that medicines, and medical parts and all get passed is totally unrelated to the benefits and needs of the consumer. A great example of how things really work, is the story of Penecilian (forgot how it is spelled)— if you do the research you will see that the makers of the drug created a big scare about people using or working around silver products (certain types) and staged the introduction of their drug by telling everyone that if they used silver for any healing products their skin may turn blue! I believe it was called Ageria but not sure on the spelling. When all were too scared to be around or use silver for healing, guess what popped up? The MIRACLE drug they had. It turns out I have found one man with blue skin back in that day with blue skin, claimed to be from Ageria….but it worked and the new drug took off. Not much different today.
Judith Elliott said:
The FDA also needs to be held accountable for approving the devices based on strong lobbying with fabricated data and ‘jimmied” statistics by the manufacturers. They should have demanded testing results, but the testing was not done. The companies have a lot of money and power. I read recently that The UK is considering filing criminal charges against the executives. How I would love to see a few of the pompous executives be sentenced to prison for the lives they knowingly ruined!
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stephen tower said:
Hi Tim- Having had 9 dislocations of my revised hip I have great sympathy for your trials. Your case demonstrates some of the complexities of understanding the complications of hip replacement and how cause and effect might be inappropriately attributed.
The explant that you are holding is not a metal-on-ceramic hip, it is a ceramic-on-ceramic hip. The ball is ceramic and the articular surface of the socket is ceramic. The metal smears on the ball are from the ball sliding over the titanium metal shell within which the ceramic liner is seated.
Your problem repeated dislocations are not likely related to the design and materials of your first hip but to the position in which the parts were implanted, the condition of your hip capsule, and your first several months of rehabilitation after your first operation.
Even it the parts are perfectly positioned an early dislocation before the hip capsule heals sets one up for further instability. Even the parts are not ideally positioned dislocation of the hip is not likely as long and the hip capsule heals well.
Glad that you are doing well now, be carefull not to move your hip excessively over the next 6 months, this ought to allow for the the hip to “scar in” so that further dislocations will be unlikely.
Good luck-
Dr. Stevev
Timothy Petri said:
Thanks for responding to this story. I am very intrigued by you’re professional opinion on this. I have several questions maybe you can help with.
1- First you said the initial positioning of the cup could have something to do with dislocations. I happened to have the surgery available to watch, narrated by the doctor and all. Would you be able to tell by watching this surgery close up, if the cup was positioned in the right place? I would be glad to forward it to you if you send me an email on my email address located above- so I will know where to send the link.
2-The announcement on June 14th was the “first ever Ceramic on Metal” DePuy implant was approved by the FDA”- You say it is not really so. That it is ceramic on ceramic. The only liner I have in this piece is a hard white plastic. Can you clear up what I am missing on this?
3-Regarding the dislocation being more likely to occur if the first few months were difficult or one dislocates soon after surgery, my rehab was fine,and had no dislocations for 1 year after surgery. That seems like enough for healing to occur since I was not putting my hip through anything stressful….am I right?
4- I have trouble with the idea that its ok to have metal involved simply because there may be a ceramic liner in the cup. You see how well that protected metal chunks from being tossed into my blood as I dislocated. Not very well. The design flaw to me as a non medical professional seems to be something that does not require Magnum PI to crack…..it seems that if there are other options than metal, since there are currently 10 or 15 thousand lawsuits about metal on metal DePuy- that someone somewhere would have a light bulb go off and realize that the common denominator in all the problematic areas seem to have to do with metal entering the bloodstream. Does it really matter how or why it got into the bloodstream? By dislocation, or wear, or whatever.. Perhaps if metal were not involved, we may see a decrease in these problems. There are other options. Metal has failed, no matter which way we implant it, top, bottom, sideways, coated with ceramic, coated with cement. No difference. The end result is always metal causing the problem. Why the romance with metal? I see there are plenty of other options, and I do not hear much about ceramic getting into the blood….. I do not get that part at all.. No matter which way it is framed, the metal is the culprit. Take it out of the equation and I wonder what the failure rate would be. In America we have been through this before, with the introduction of the wonder drug Pennicilln and the whole silver scare back 80 or 90 years ago. Silver was said to cause I believe what they called Agyria (not sure on spelling) and suddenly enter Pennicillin the great savior for all the people using silver components for healing. Now today its metal in these scenarios, and the manufacturers, the FDA (If they even had a look) and the people are not quesitoning new parts that contain metal. I feel like I am watching a guy with 4 flat tires rotate them on the side of the road! New tire is needed!
This of course, is all my humble opinion. If someone can give me any evidence at all that this new ceramic hip is even 1% better than the metal on metal being beaten down in court right now, Too bad no results or studies were done….or wait, I was part of the study I think…
stephen tower said:
I am quite certain that your first hip was ceramic on ceramic, the pink hard material on the inside of the socket is ceramic, the head appears to be the same. It is unusual to start having dislocation problems at a year unless the parts did not become well fixed and drifted into a position that made a dislocation more likely, that fit with you having ongoin pain.
The video is not of much help, your “implant inventory” will tell you exactly what parts you do have. You had some titanium transferred from the outer shell of the socket to the head. This happened when you dislocated and the ball rode over the shell, since ceramic is harder than titanium the metal was “smeared” onto the ball. Your blood titanium might have been slightly elevated but it does not appear that this causes problems.
Xrays made just after surgery and just before revision would give the most information about position of the parts and whether they had changed over time.
Your revision surgeon would be your best source of information about whether the part were loose or less than ideally positions.
Dr. Steve
Timothy Petri said:
Dr.Steve-
Thanks for the response. I did try and talk with my revision surgeon about this, however he seemed hypersensitive when I asked too many questions, and basically referred me to my post operative report. The report only states that it was a hip failure, That the hip was easily dislocated pre-surgery, The report also states that he increased the cup size, stem size, repositioned the angle and added a layer of polysomething all for stability.
During the preoperative xray, the only comment he made was that the angle of the cup was in “neutral position” and needed change. After he went in, he revealed the changes he made in the postoperative.
The video of the surgery is narrated and describes the parts as they are put in, by the doctor and 2 moderators. I thought it might resolve the issues I have questions about. I will post it in case you decide to watch.
http://www.orlive.com/halifaxhealth/hip-replacement
stephen tower said:
If the stem was repositioned it is likely that the stem never became fixed and “settled” and rotated this would tend to make the hip unstable. From the pictures it appears that your shell (socket) was ingrowth. A “neutral” socket position is appectable most of the time, I vary the socket position case by case to optimize stability in surgery. The hip was likely quite stable initially, until the stem changed positions.
Do you know for sure if the hip was dislocating out the back (posterior) or the front (anterior). Posterior dislocations normally occur when the hip is flexed, often when seated in a low chair. Anterior dislocations tend to occur when the hip is extended often when the patient is pivoting on the foot turning away from the side of the hip.
Again what would show the sequence of events best would be the xrays made just after the first hip was done and the ones made just before it was redone.
Timothy Petri said:
Thanks again for responding, as I am sure you are a very busy man. I really am trying to wrap my head around all this as much as I can, I pulled all of my medical records so I can give you specifics when possible. Posterior dislocations, all of them.
Ok-
First, I will note that I have only the narratives of x-rays on hand right now, and the initial, first doctor who Dx me with AVN interpreted his own X-Rays, just so you know. The very first time I went to see him in May of 2011 his narrative on the x-ray indicates:
AP Pelvis with AP and lateral X-Ray of right hip- evidence of AVN with a crescent sign.stage 3-4, as well as AVN in left hip.
He then goes on to say regarding the findings on X-Ray-Progression involving fracture in the femoral head. Enneking stage 4-5 at this point. some collapse of right hip and loss of roundness on the head. lateral view shows crescent sign.
impression- AVN right hip enneking stage 5
Avn left hip enneking stage 3
From this point he determines I am a candidate for a right THR.
Surgery is scheduled and performed on 6/28/2011.After 8 posterior dislocations and now the date is 9/24/2012- same doctor takes another x-ray and interprets same. interpretation is as folows-
AP view of the pelvis and lateral view of the right hip shows well positioned uncemented hip replacement arthroplasty on the right. No signs of loosening, Left hip shows AVN. Some hypertrophy of the bone is seen around the tip of prosthesis.
One month later I am in a new surgeons office, have x-ray and he recommends Revision on right hip, as hip failure is present due to multiple dislocations. He notes the AVN in my left hip and recommends core decompression for this. Doctor 2 is verified on 11/26/2012 when surgery is completed on both hips. Bone graft on left (saucerization) and revision on right. He states hip is easy to dislocate posteriorly and after new sizes hip is unable to dislocate.
Now, I found my first surgery exact list of parts-
DePuy Pinnacle porous coated acetabular 100 series 58 millimeter outside diameter.
Liner- pinnacle ultrex, polyethylene acetabular liner, neutral 36 mm inside diameter.
Stem-DePuy Summit #8 standard offset 12/14 taper with hydroxyapatite.
Head-Biolox Delta Articuleze ceramic femoral head 36 mm outside diameter 1.5, neck length 12/14 taper.
Any of this help?
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bernard said:
the metal on ceramic articulation is not the problem here i have had one for 5 years no problems at all . the dislocating of the hip is what damaged the bearing surfaces and woulld any bearing surface .if that socket was in right that first hip would be doing well .
bernard said:
i am sorry the ceramic on metal is not the problem the constant dislocaion of the hip damaged the articulating surface as it would any kind of hip . if he put the socket right first time you would still have that first hip today . the surgeon is at fault .sometimes it is the surgeon .