Gulf War veteran Scott Almhjell suffered from a degenerative condition that eventually led him to get hip replacement surgery. Almhjell was one of the 93,000 people worldwide who had the Depuy ASR hip replacement devices implanted into his body. Only three short years later, Almhjell is one of a growing number of people joining the Depuy ASR Lawsuit over the defective implants, an AZ Family article reported.
Alhjell is one of thousands of people who have fallen victim to a faulty hip replacement. Depuy initiated a recall of its popular ASR hip replacement devices after over 300 people had to undergo revision surgery due to defects in the device. Now, patients in the Depuy Lawsuit wonder why the company didn’t act sooner.
The device was recalled in Australia in 2008, which angers many patients in the U.S. who want Depuy to answer why they didn’t initiate a worldwide recall two years ago. Almhjell’s lawyer said, “There’s hundreds, if not thousands of patients out there who are suffering with this hip because their doctor doesn’t know what’s going on,” the article said. The cost of replacement surgery for all affected patients could reach up to hundreds of millions of dollars.
So far, the Depuy Hip Recalls have led to lawsuits against the company in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New Jersey. Depuy promises to reimburse patients for their expenses, but continues to urge them to submit claims to their health insurance companies. It is unclear when or what expenses Depuy will cover.
References:
Feeley, Jeff. (September 3, 2010) “Johnson & Johnson Sued Over Hip-Replacement Devices.” Retrieved on September 20, 2010 from the Bloomberg Businessweek web site.
News Inferno Staff. (September 8, 2010) “Johnson & Johnson DePuy ASR Hip Implant Recall Sparks Lawsuits.” Retrieved on September 20, 2010 from the News Inferno web site.
Yeomans, Meredith. (September 1, 2010) “Valley veteran at the center of J&J’s hip replacement recall.” Retrieved on September 20, 2010 from the AZ Family 3 On Your Side web site.