Personal Injury Law

Important Information For DePuy Hip Implant Patients

By Steven M. Levin and John J. Perconti

A newsletter that follows the latest happenings in the world of mass torts and product liability problems recently discussed the litigation surrounding the DePuy hip implant recall. Our Chicago product liability attorneys have been following the developments closely, because many patients in our area may have been affected by the recall.

Over 93,000 implants were recalled at the end of August this year after its metal-on-metal hip implant system was discovered to fail at a much higher rate than usual. The malfunction caused metallic particles to enter the patient?s body, leading to bone and tissue problems. The problem requires a painful and risky revision surgery. As a result, anyone who has had a hip implant with the DePuy ASR XL Acetabular System and ASR Hip Resurfacing Systems may have a legal claim against the company for the problem with the medical device.

However, the company is attempting to limit its payment and gain the upper hand in legal matters by having patients unsuspectingly sign consent forms which provide the corporation with valuable information about a patient?s case before the lawsuit is even filed. The company has sent letters to orthopedic surgeons who then pass along the consent form to the patient. The letter asks patients to contact DePuy to receive a claim number. In the most egregious cases, the surgeon has appeared to require patients to call DePuy before scheduling the follow-up appointment.

This misleading attempt to obtain patient information in order to get the upper hand in litigation should be rejected. Any patient who has already signed the consent form can waive the consent at any time by writing to the organization or person to whom they gave consent. The group asking for the consent may be ?Broadspire,? an organization working with DePuy to send out the consent forms.

In short, if you have had a hip implant and have been contacted in any form similar to that described here, be sure not to sign away important rights. The consent forms essentially give away private patient rights for little to nothing in return. Be sure to contact a product liability lawyer to ask all questions you may have about the DePuy recall.

Full post as published by Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog on November 09, 2010 (boomark / email).