12 March 2012
The
British Medical Journal of 8th March 2012 has outlined further advice from the British Hip Society, arguing that “patients who need a total hip replacement should not be given devices using bearings of 36 mm or more until more evidence is available about their safety.”
The advice issued by British and Danish Surgeons follows on from the recent media attention regarding the lack of reliable information available to medical practitioners about the variety of implants on the market today. It has recently been mooted that in the absence of careful monitoring, surgeons are unable to make informed decisions about how to achieve the best results for patients.
A British Medical Journal and BBC Newsnight investigation revealed that “despite the fact that these risks have been known and well documented for decades, patients have been kept in the dark about their participation in what has effectively been a large uncontrolled experiment”
The latest advice from the British Hip Society was issued at the start of March 2012, following the Society’s annual meeting in Manchester. The decision to advise against the use of larger devices was said to have been reached unanimously. It is a decision that goes one step further from last year’s annual meeting which stated that “the use of large diameter metal on metal bearings in primary total hip replacement should be carefully considered and probably avoided.”
The Society has further said that it endorses the guidance issued by the MHRA on 28 February 2012, which states that “patients who already have metal-on-metal bearing implants should be followed-up with annual blood tests to check for metal ion concentrations and that patients with hip symptoms indicative of problems with the joint, such as welling, pain, or limping, also undergo annual magnetic resonance imaging”.
In addition, Benn Duss, chairman of the Danish Orthopaedic Society has indicated that the uncertainty is so great in relation to metal-on-metal hips that they are “introducing a time-out for patient safety”. It has now been decided that as a result of the fears surrounding larger metal on metal devices, Danish surgeons have banned their use in Danish patients.
Leigh Day and medical device claims
Specialist and expert
defective product solicitors at Leigh Day & Co are currently representing hundreds of clients who have suffered serious health problems since being fitted with a variety of
hip replacement devices. Symptoms they have suffered include: groin pain, difficulty in walking, swelling, clunking or grinding and numbness or loss of sensation in leg. Many of our clients have had to undergo painful revision surgery to replace the hip implants that had been fitted, and some have suffered financial loss because of time missed at work. Leigh Day product liability lawyers are currently instructed in the following matters:
To speak to a member of our medical devices claims team for a free and friendly initial consultation please contact us on
020 7650 1219 or email partners
Jill Paterson or
Bozena Michalowska for further information.
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