A legal firm representing patients fitted with faulty hip implants is to sue either the manufacturers or their parent company, as part of a group action.
Dublin firm McDonnell and Associates has been approached by at least 60 patients fitted with one of two faulty hip implants made by DePuy — part of the Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices and Diagnostics Group.
Peter McDonnell, principal solicitor at the firm, said approximately 80% of the patients he had spoken to were planning to sue.
In Ireland, 3,282 patients were fitted with the faulty hips. Over one third of the devices were fitted at the Whitfield Clinic in Waterford where the orthopaedic consultant, Tadhg O’Sullivan, was invited to become a design surgeon by & DePuy International. He helped develop the ASR Hip Resurfacing components and technique.
Donal O’Farrell, chief executive at the clinic, said the issues arising from the DePuy recall did "not reflect on the quality of healthcare provided at Whitfield".
DePuy recalled all ASR hip implant systems sold since 2003 in Aug 2010. This followed research by the British-based National Joint Registry which found that 12%-13% of patients who received the devices had to undergo revision surgery within five years.
A more recent British study involving more than 500 patients found failure rates of up to 50% at six years for those who received a DePuy ASR hip implant in a total hip replacement procedure.
Concerns have also emerged in relation to the metal-on-metal devices shedding miniscule metal shards into the bloodstream, leading to raised levels of chromium and cobalt in patients. Health regulators in Britain are considering updating patient safety information to include further warnings in this regard.
The Irish Medicines Board said it will take its lead from the British authorities. Latest figures from the HSE show almost a quarter of Irish patients are due to have repeat blood tests because of either elevated levels of chromium and cobalt, or to monitor the condition of the implant.
As many as 516 have had MRIs, 192 have had revision surgery and 96 more surgeries are scheduled. Per million population, surgeons here fitted more of the implants than any other country worldwide.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Tuesday, February 14, 2012
