Upon my return from the National Hip Replacement Summit in Chicago, IL, I believe it is important to get the word out about how dangerous this defective DePuy hip replacement surgery has been. A massive tort action will be needed if you or a loved one, or anybody you know has been a recipient of a DePuy ASR device as part of a hip replacement surgery since 2003. You should contact me immediately for legal advice.
What has came to light last August is that DePuy Orthopaedics, a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson Corp. betrayed 93,000 persons between 30 – 55 years old and older, with the promise of a new and active life, pain free with full modality of their hip, when in reality DePuy had full knowledge these “ASR devices” were defectively designed. Statistics showed that 1 out of 8 persons would need a replacement hip within five years (many within the first year) resulting in extreme pain, lengthy rehab, and a crippled hip life.
Once again, the corporate bottom line trumped the risk of disabling the consumer. By 2009, DePuy announced a profit of 5.4 BILLION dollars, and yet they continued to sell the known defective ASR devices until they “volunteered” to recall them August 24, 2010.
What is more disgusting than DePuy’s betrayal to the consumer and surgeons is the actual fact of the damage caused by these devises and the lethal harm to patients if not detected as soon as possible.
The true danger lies in the asymptomatic joint region where because the ASR titanium ball or cup chafes off its titanium flakes into the blood stream. The body’s immune system attacks the joint with extremely high levels of chromium and cobalt. These high levels of ions enter the joint and chemically produce a poison called ALVAL that kills the flesh, ligaments, bones and other tissue that cannot be rejuvenated. This metalloid reaction causes the bone to loosen through osteolysis where the immune system attempts to reabsorb the bone by cracking and wearing it down so that it can no longer hold the ASR ball at the top of your femur. The ball dislocates from the hip and causes exactly what you do not want to happen to anyone because it cannot be repaired without permanent damage.
I realize the above sounds pretty technical, but one look at the films would explain it all. It is all very ugly and you would not wish it on your worst enemy. When you add the fact it could have been avoided by a moral manufacturer, it makes you sick.
Mark S. Cornwall lives in Santa Barbara, CA. and can be reached at www.markcornwall.com, or at (805) 845-7558.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Recall of DePuy Hip Replacement Device: Know Your Rights
This alert is to help those people who have been victimized, or will be victimized, by a failed hip surgery replacement implant from 2003 to the present. By letter dated Aug. 24, 2010, DePuy Orthopeadics, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, recalled 93,000 defective implants on a so-called voluntary basis.
The two hip replacement devices recalled are known as the ASR Hip Recurring System and the ASR XL Acetabluor System, commonly referred to as ASR. According to a source familiar with the protocol of Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, if you had a hip replacement surgery at Cottage Hospital any time in the past seven years, you have probably had it replaced with one or both of these DePuy devices because of the hospital’s preference among competing brands. That leaves about 1,300 potential patients at risk during the past five years.
If you haven’t already done so, you need to talk to your treating physician about how the recall of the ASR and the possibilities of its failure to work within the first five years will affect you. It could require a replacement surgery with the attenuating rehabilitation. The device is supposed to last for at least 15 years. Johnson & Johnson recalled this replacement hip system because the devices have a 12 percent to 13 percent chance of coming loose, fracturing the bone around the implant, releasing titanium metal flakes into your blood stream and causing tumors, as well as greatly increasing the possibility of infection.
WHAT TO DO
A 12 percent failure rate is astronomic in the world of implant recalls. Meanwhile, DePuy has begun a very aggressive campaign to find the recipients of the defective devices and attempt to settle any potential case the victims may have for the cost of replacement surgery. You will receive a letter from DePuy — actually, from its insurance company named Broadspire, which will attempt to have you sign a document for your authorization to receive all your medical records from anywhere, to be shared with any “service provider” contracted by DePuy. Do not sign this authorization for medical records.
The authorization will be abused and all your medical records will be shared with claims adjustors, attorneys and computer statistics, and against you in order to settle for the least amount of money possible. It will not cover the pain and suffering, e.g. the disappointment of a failed surgery, months of rehabilitation, the need for a replacement surgery, time, expense, lost wages and, in many cases, years of never-ending hip pain requiring cortisone shots every three months.
Because of the ASR never working for many patients, it has made life more miserable both after the implant surgery and before the replacement surgery by knowing you may have your hip replaced again, and start the rehab process from the beginning again. It is always more difficult to mend the second time, but the relief is worth it.
The next step is to obtain your medical records from your treating orthopedist and bring them to an ASR recall lawsuit counselor such as myself. Your case can then be confidentially analyzed and a well-planned strategy can be pursued on your behalf alone. It is not advisable to be part of a class-action lawsuit unless you have little or no injuries or cost of damages. The attorneys are the only ones who come out ahead on class actions. If your case is more serious than that, you need private legal counsel familiar with the implant recall and its fiscal ramification that will handle your case on a contingency fee basis.
What DePuy Isn’t Telling You
According to the letter you will receive from DePuy, or on its Web site, the “voluntary recall” of the ASR products came about as follows:
“Johnson & Johnson announced the recall of the DePuy ASR Hip Implant system after data from the National Joint Registry of England and Wales showed that 1 out of every 8 patients (12 percent to 13 percent) who had received the recalled devices had to undergo revision surgery within five years of receiving it. It is suppose to work for 15 years. The recall involved the ASR XL Acetabular System, a hip socket used in traditional hip replacement, and the ASR Hip Resurfacing System, a partial hip replacement that involves placing a metal cap on the ball of the femur. Only the ASR XL Acetabular System was approved for use in the U.S.
“The truth is that according to the Australian Joint Registry — the second-largest database in the world after the England and Wales National Joint Registry — issued seven reports to DePuy starting in 2007 that identified problems with the hip implant system. The ASR system was finally withdrawn from the Australian market in December 2009.”
DePuy has long known the problems caused by its ill-designed hip replacement device, yet it continued to sell it to Americans for nearly a year after being ousted from Australia. That means DePuy made billions of dollars off the risk of your suffering.
I will be attending the National Hip Replacement Summit in Chicago Oct. 21-23. I can be reached at mscornwall@aol.com or (805) 845-7558.
The two hip replacement devices recalled are known as the ASR Hip Recurring System and the ASR XL Acetabluor System, commonly referred to as ASR. According to a source familiar with the protocol of Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, if you had a hip replacement surgery at Cottage Hospital any time in the past seven years, you have probably had it replaced with one or both of these DePuy devices because of the hospital’s preference among competing brands. That leaves about 1,300 potential patients at risk during the past five years.
If you haven’t already done so, you need to talk to your treating physician about how the recall of the ASR and the possibilities of its failure to work within the first five years will affect you. It could require a replacement surgery with the attenuating rehabilitation. The device is supposed to last for at least 15 years. Johnson & Johnson recalled this replacement hip system because the devices have a 12 percent to 13 percent chance of coming loose, fracturing the bone around the implant, releasing titanium metal flakes into your blood stream and causing tumors, as well as greatly increasing the possibility of infection.
WHAT TO DO
A 12 percent failure rate is astronomic in the world of implant recalls. Meanwhile, DePuy has begun a very aggressive campaign to find the recipients of the defective devices and attempt to settle any potential case the victims may have for the cost of replacement surgery. You will receive a letter from DePuy — actually, from its insurance company named Broadspire, which will attempt to have you sign a document for your authorization to receive all your medical records from anywhere, to be shared with any “service provider” contracted by DePuy. Do not sign this authorization for medical records.
The authorization will be abused and all your medical records will be shared with claims adjustors, attorneys and computer statistics, and against you in order to settle for the least amount of money possible. It will not cover the pain and suffering, e.g. the disappointment of a failed surgery, months of rehabilitation, the need for a replacement surgery, time, expense, lost wages and, in many cases, years of never-ending hip pain requiring cortisone shots every three months.
Because of the ASR never working for many patients, it has made life more miserable both after the implant surgery and before the replacement surgery by knowing you may have your hip replaced again, and start the rehab process from the beginning again. It is always more difficult to mend the second time, but the relief is worth it.
The next step is to obtain your medical records from your treating orthopedist and bring them to an ASR recall lawsuit counselor such as myself. Your case can then be confidentially analyzed and a well-planned strategy can be pursued on your behalf alone. It is not advisable to be part of a class-action lawsuit unless you have little or no injuries or cost of damages. The attorneys are the only ones who come out ahead on class actions. If your case is more serious than that, you need private legal counsel familiar with the implant recall and its fiscal ramification that will handle your case on a contingency fee basis.
What DePuy Isn’t Telling You
According to the letter you will receive from DePuy, or on its Web site, the “voluntary recall” of the ASR products came about as follows:
“Johnson & Johnson announced the recall of the DePuy ASR Hip Implant system after data from the National Joint Registry of England and Wales showed that 1 out of every 8 patients (12 percent to 13 percent) who had received the recalled devices had to undergo revision surgery within five years of receiving it. It is suppose to work for 15 years. The recall involved the ASR XL Acetabular System, a hip socket used in traditional hip replacement, and the ASR Hip Resurfacing System, a partial hip replacement that involves placing a metal cap on the ball of the femur. Only the ASR XL Acetabular System was approved for use in the U.S.
“The truth is that according to the Australian Joint Registry — the second-largest database in the world after the England and Wales National Joint Registry — issued seven reports to DePuy starting in 2007 that identified problems with the hip implant system. The ASR system was finally withdrawn from the Australian market in December 2009.”
DePuy has long known the problems caused by its ill-designed hip replacement device, yet it continued to sell it to Americans for nearly a year after being ousted from Australia. That means DePuy made billions of dollars off the risk of your suffering.
I will be attending the National Hip Replacement Summit in Chicago Oct. 21-23. I can be reached at mscornwall@aol.com or (805) 845-7558.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
THE DePUY ASR HIP REPLACEMENT DEVICE: YOUR RIGHTS
THE DePUY ASR HIP REPLACEMENT DEVICE RECALLED:
YOUR RIGHTS
Mark S. Cornwall, is resuming his 25 years of litigation practice in the field of personal injury solely to help those persons who have been victimized by failed hip surgery replacement devices. In August 2010, the DePuy (pronounced like Pepe “Lepeu”) Orthopedics, a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson, recalled 93,000 defective implants, on a so called voluntary basis.
The two hip replacement devices recalled are known as the ASR Hip Recurring System and the ASR XL Acetabluor System, commonly referred to as ASR.
If you have had your hip replaced due to the ASR failing and/or have had it replaced with another device due to the failure of the ASR between 2003 to the present, please, call the Law Office of Mark S. Cornwall to understand your legal rights on pursuing your claim. Talk to your treating physician about how the recall of the ASR and the possibilities of its flaking off titanium chips into your blood stream can affect you.
Johnson and Johnson recalled this replacement hip because the devices have a 12% chance of coming loose, fracturing the bone around the implant and causing tumors, as well as metal particles into your blood stream.
A 12% failure rate is astronomic in the world of recalls. A 5% failure rate would be more than sufficient. Johnson and Johnson has admitted it is to blame, but this knowledge of failure has been known for years before now, and they DePuy has kept selling them at the expense of their patients pain, e.g. the disappointment of its failed surgery, months of rehabilitation, the need for a replacement surgery, time, expense, lost wages, and in many cases years of never ending hip pain, requiring cortisone shots, every three months that did not work. Because of the ASR never working for many patients it has made life more miserable both before and after the replacement surgery knowing you would have to have your hip replaced again, and start the rehab process from the beginning again. It is always more difficult to mend the second time, but the relief is worth it.
The Law Office of Mark S. Cornwall has a history of winning lawsuits against the biggest manufacturing and retail corporations in American: Harley Davidson, Big Five Sporting Goods, both United and KLM Airlines, and McDonalds to name a few. But they all have insurance companies and without exception they do not want to pay you a dime.
DePuy has sold more than 93,000 of these and similar products worldwide, with sales totaling more than $5.4 billion in 2009. In December of that year they stopped selling the implants in the Nation of Australia due to complaints from hip plant receivers where hip replacement is common since the average person in Australia walks the most steps per day in the world. America is last on that list. In March of 2010, the company wrote letters to all orthopedists warning doctors of the possibility of early failure of their products.
Then on August 26, 2010, they sent orthopedists an “Alert Letter” warning doctors that use of the implant could result in failure due to problems in the device itself. That is almost an admission, but it is not what they are blaming this voluntary recall on. They are blaming it on 1) the way the doctors placed the system during surgery, and 2) they claim they were taking it off the market anyway because its sales were not making money for DePuy aka Johnson & Johnson.
“Johnson & Johnson announced the recall of the DePuy ASR Hip Implant 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 recalled devices had to undergo revision surgery within five years of receiving it. It is suppose tp work for 15 years. The recall involved the ASR XL Acetabular System, a hip socket used in traditional hip replacement, and the ASR Hip Resurfacing System, a partial hip replacement that involves placing a metal cap on the ball of the femur. Only the ASR XL Acetabular System was approved for use in the US.
According to a report on the Independent, a UK media outlet, the Australian Joint Registry – the second largest database in the world after the England and Wales National Joint Registry – issued seven reports to DePuy starting in 2007 that identified problems with the hip implant system. The ASR system was finally withdrawn from the Australian market in December 2009.
Professor Stephen Graves, director of the Australian National Joint Replacement Registry, told the Independent that DePuy had behaved “irresponsibly and very badly,” putting patients needlessly at risk. “It is a complete untruth that DePuy did not have reason to withdraw the ASR before now; we have been telling them since 2007, but they allowed it to be used on thousands of people,” Graves said,” according to the Registry.
Mark S. Cornwall 1 (805)845-7558
YOUR RIGHTS
Mark S. Cornwall, is resuming his 25 years of litigation practice in the field of personal injury solely to help those persons who have been victimized by failed hip surgery replacement devices. In August 2010, the DePuy (pronounced like Pepe “Lepeu”) Orthopedics, a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson, recalled 93,000 defective implants, on a so called voluntary basis.
The two hip replacement devices recalled are known as the ASR Hip Recurring System and the ASR XL Acetabluor System, commonly referred to as ASR.
If you have had your hip replaced due to the ASR failing and/or have had it replaced with another device due to the failure of the ASR between 2003 to the present, please, call the Law Office of Mark S. Cornwall to understand your legal rights on pursuing your claim. Talk to your treating physician about how the recall of the ASR and the possibilities of its flaking off titanium chips into your blood stream can affect you.
Johnson and Johnson recalled this replacement hip because the devices have a 12% chance of coming loose, fracturing the bone around the implant and causing tumors, as well as metal particles into your blood stream.
A 12% failure rate is astronomic in the world of recalls. A 5% failure rate would be more than sufficient. Johnson and Johnson has admitted it is to blame, but this knowledge of failure has been known for years before now, and they DePuy has kept selling them at the expense of their patients pain, e.g. the disappointment of its failed surgery, months of rehabilitation, the need for a replacement surgery, time, expense, lost wages, and in many cases years of never ending hip pain, requiring cortisone shots, every three months that did not work. Because of the ASR never working for many patients it has made life more miserable both before and after the replacement surgery knowing you would have to have your hip replaced again, and start the rehab process from the beginning again. It is always more difficult to mend the second time, but the relief is worth it.
The Law Office of Mark S. Cornwall has a history of winning lawsuits against the biggest manufacturing and retail corporations in American: Harley Davidson, Big Five Sporting Goods, both United and KLM Airlines, and McDonalds to name a few. But they all have insurance companies and without exception they do not want to pay you a dime.
DePuy has sold more than 93,000 of these and similar products worldwide, with sales totaling more than $5.4 billion in 2009. In December of that year they stopped selling the implants in the Nation of Australia due to complaints from hip plant receivers where hip replacement is common since the average person in Australia walks the most steps per day in the world. America is last on that list. In March of 2010, the company wrote letters to all orthopedists warning doctors of the possibility of early failure of their products.
Then on August 26, 2010, they sent orthopedists an “Alert Letter” warning doctors that use of the implant could result in failure due to problems in the device itself. That is almost an admission, but it is not what they are blaming this voluntary recall on. They are blaming it on 1) the way the doctors placed the system during surgery, and 2) they claim they were taking it off the market anyway because its sales were not making money for DePuy aka Johnson & Johnson.
“Johnson & Johnson announced the recall of the DePuy ASR Hip Implant 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 recalled devices had to undergo revision surgery within five years of receiving it. It is suppose tp work for 15 years. The recall involved the ASR XL Acetabular System, a hip socket used in traditional hip replacement, and the ASR Hip Resurfacing System, a partial hip replacement that involves placing a metal cap on the ball of the femur. Only the ASR XL Acetabular System was approved for use in the US.
According to a report on the Independent, a UK media outlet, the Australian Joint Registry – the second largest database in the world after the England and Wales National Joint Registry – issued seven reports to DePuy starting in 2007 that identified problems with the hip implant system. The ASR system was finally withdrawn from the Australian market in December 2009.
Professor Stephen Graves, director of the Australian National Joint Replacement Registry, told the Independent that DePuy had behaved “irresponsibly and very badly,” putting patients needlessly at risk. “It is a complete untruth that DePuy did not have reason to withdraw the ASR before now; we have been telling them since 2007, but they allowed it to be used on thousands of people,” Graves said,” according to the Registry.
Mark S. Cornwall 1 (805)845-7558
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