Defective Hip Implant Attorneys in Morristown

Injured by a Faulty Medical Device in Hamblen, Greene, or Hawkins County?

At The Terry Law Firm, our personal injury attorneys focus on obtaining compensation for injuries or deaths from dangerous or defective products, including faulty medical devices. Metal-on-metal hip implants, such as those recently recalled by the manufacturer DePuy Orthopedics, Inc., are of particular concern.

If you have suffered complications after having a DePuy or other type of hip implant, our firm has the knowledge, skills, and resources to effectively help with your legal case. We are located in Morristown, and serve clients in Hamblen, Greene, and Hawkins Counties, and throughout East Tennessee.

Have your or a loved one experienced one of the following problems with hip implants?

• Pain, discomfort, and swelling around the hips
• Trouble walking
• A feeling that the hip is dislocated
• Metal poisoning

Background on DePuy Hip Implants

DePuy Orthopedics, Inc., a Johnson & Johnson company, recalled its ASR XL Acetabular metal-on-metal hip replacement system in 2010. However, that was after 93,000 patients worldwide already received the allegedly defective hip implants. The recall came after a U.K. national joint registry revealed heightened failure rates for the DePuy hip implants, according to a recent article in Businessweek. DePuy reported that 37,000 U.S. patients have received the hip implants, and the British data indicate that 13 percent of DePuy’s ASR XL Acetabular hips had failed and required replacement.

The FDA Gets Involved

In what was described as “an unusual move,” the Food and Drug Administration in May 2011 ordered all manufacturers of metal-on-metal hip implants, not just DePuy, to study patients who have received the hip implants to determine whether the devices are giving off metallic debris that could cause disabling soft tissue damage. Zimmer, Stryker, Biomet, and Wright Medical are other leading producers of hip implants.

What Goes Wrong

Hip implants like those DePuy marketed were designed to replace the ball-and-socket joint in patients’ hips. The hip implants include a metal ball on a stem that replaces the femur head. That ball rotates in a metal-lined cup that serves as a replacement socket. The metal parts in the hip implants may wear over time, causing tiny particles of metal to flake off. Those metal particles could cause patients to suffer damage in the joint and the soft tissue surrounding the hip implant, potentially a very painful and disabling condition. There is also the possibility of metal poisoning.

Patients who suffer complications from defective hip implants could require corrective surgery, and some may need a replacement hip implant. Studies associated with the 2010 DePuy hip implant recall showed that about one in eight patients with an ASR hip implant required corrective surgery within five years.

Contact our Experienced Defective Medical Device Lawyers Today

If you believe you or a loved one has suffered from a defective hip implant, our Morristown personal injury lawyers of The Terry Law Firm are available to review your case. If we find that you have a legitimate claim, we will aggressively pursue the compensation you are entitled to.

Call us at (423) 586-5800 and schedule a free initial consultation today.