A medical study underway is expected to reveal that side effects of metal-on-metal hip replacements can cause genetic damage, which could lead to an increased risk of cancer.
According to the U.K.’s Telegraph newspaper, a study to be presented next month at the British Hip Society conference will include findings that suggest the metal particles released by the grinding of metal-on-metal hip replacements could cause chromosomal changes, which may lead to kidney cancer and bladder cancer.
The findings are the latest nails in the coffin over the safety of the once-popular hip implant designs. These hips have been the subject of massive recalls and product liability lawsuits filed by individuals who allege that they are subject to failure within a few years after surgery.
The most likely cause of the genetic damage is metal debris made up of cobalt and chromium, which is released into the body when metal hip implant parts grind against each other. The particles have been linked to tissue damage, tumors, high metal ion blood counts and metal blood poisoning, known as metallosis.
DePuy Orthopaedics, a division of Johnson & Johnson, already faces a massive number of metal hip implant lawsuits. In August 2010, a DePuy ASR metal hip implant recall affected 93,000 implants worldwide and about 40,000 sold in the United States.
Approximately 3,500, of those victims who received the implant in the U.S. have already filed a DePuy ASR hip lawsuit. As more hip implants fail over time, the number of people filing product liability claims against manufacturers is bound to increase.
Recent data from the National Joint Registry for England and Wales indicates that nearly a third of patients will experience problems within six years and other estimates suggest that as many as half of all individuals who received the recalled hip system may eventually experience loosening or failure of their implant.
In May 2011, the FDA asked device manufacturers to obtain more information about the level at which the metal particles released by hip replacements becomes dangerous, how much metal they actually release and what the potential side effects of metallosis are.
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Shezad Malik is an Internal Medicine and Cardiology specialist, a Texas Medical Doctor (retired) and Defective Medical Device and Dangerous Drug Attorney. Dr. Shezad Malik Law Firm has offices based in Fort Worth and Dallas and represents people who have suffered catastrophic and serious personal injuries including wrongful death, caused by the negligence or recklessness of others.
2 Comments
Debra Pearl
I am just wondering about something....I had two metal on metal hip implants done on my right side,I had to have them both revised after they dislocated and moved,All this took place in a two and a half year period....right before my second revision(third surgery)I had to get checked out by a urologist because i had a large amount of blood in my urine...the doc thought it was cancer..thank god it wasn't...couldn't find the explanation...Could this be the reason??
norman sherrington
can anybody help, I had a depuy hip fitted 10 months ago.
30 min after getting back from surgery, I wasn't in any pain at all in fact I asked if I could go home I was feeling so good.
Due to the fact that I was feeling so good and I could walk with out pain, I was allowed to go home 2 days after the operation. The next 10 days I went and had stitches taken out.all my physiotherapy was going well. I felt as though my life was getting back to normal, the most important thing of all was that I was out of pain. After 6 weeks or so when I started load-bearing the hips started to feel the pressure and started to ache again. i kept up with all my exercises on my Pilates machine to keep my upper body strength. after going for my six-month checkup I was told by my surgeon, that over the years that have had the previous hip had caused damage to my abductor muscles. I then started to get pain in the muscles in my arms, in the matter of 2 weeks to a month the pain was unbearable. I've been in for x-rays and loads of blood tests taken only to find out that there's nothing wrong with me
my doctor states that basically there is. nothing else they can do from me. Is there anybody out there who has had a depuy hip fitted, and then had replaced, and then had surveyor pains in their muscles. And what have you done to relieve the pain
any help in this matter would be greatly appreciated.
The hardest thing for me to do this try to use toilet paper it is like a red-hot poker burning through my muscles, the muscles in my arms and the rest of my body totally sizes, when I go to bed, to sleep, or try to sleep my muscles totally seize again.
And the pain is horrendous I am screaming trying to get out of bed. any help will do thank you Norman Sherrington
exercises but not any load-bearing, things seem to be going really really well the thing was this was the 1st time I had been in pain for about 8 years after the depuy hip
when I started to load bare, the hips started to ache again. I have been to see my surgeon again and praised him for the pain relief I had when he fitted the new hip.
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