Medical patients undergo surgeries and other medical procedures with the hopes of regaining their health. Unfortunately, a day for hope can take a turn for the worse when defective medical devices increase your pain and suffering. Hold negligent companies responsible when their products worsen your medical condition. The Denver injury attorneys at Samuel S. Hansuld, P.C. vigorously pursue companies to hold them liable when their oversights and shortcuts lead to injuries to your body.
One defective medical device that has been in the news is Johnson and Johnson’s DePuy hip replacement. As anyone who has experienced a hip replacement knows, hip replacement is a major operation that involves replacing your entire hip joint with a prosthetic implant.
The DePuy hip replacement made an already stressful procedure worse. Its five-year failure rate turned out to be almost two to three times the rate of typical hip replacements. Johnson and Johnson began selling the hip replacement in 2005, but the company did not acknowledge the abnormally high failure rate until the spring of 2010. It took until the fall of 2010 for the company to finally issue a DePuy hip implant recall.
The recall of a hip replacement is not a straightforward matter. Many patients had to undergo a second painful operation to replace the DePuy hip with a properly functioning one. Other complications from DePuy hip replacements include:
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Increased hip pain
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Bone fractures
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Loosening of the hip cups
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Metal debris traveling into your blood stream
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Complications stemming from the second surgery or even additional surgeries, which usually require a longer recovery time than the first
While the DePuy hip recall has been in the news of late, many Americans experience complications stemming from numerous other defective medical devices. Other common problems include:
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Complications arising from stents used to keep arteries and blood vessels open
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The defective design of defibrillators
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Dangerously designed or manufactured “life-sustaining” devices like pacemakers or spinal discs
Victims of defective medical devices like those mentioned above or the DePuy implant may be able to receive compensation for:
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Medical bills for pain and injuries that you suffer
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Pain and suffering
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Wages that you are unable to earn due to your recovery and suffering
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Emotional distress as you deal with the life changes that the defective medical devices have caused
The response from Johnson and Johnson regarding lawsuits surrounding the DePuy artificial hip recall shows exactly why it is important to pursue defective medical devices aggressively. In addition to its delayed recall, Johnson and Johnson has attempted to contact patients who received the DePuy hip to offer a small compensation settlement in exchange for access to their medical records.
Contact a Denver injury lawyer at Samuel S. Hansuld, P.C. immediately if a defective medical device has injured you and you do not want to settle for less than you deserve.