You can add items from the left menu by dragging them here.

Hip pain in athletes involves a wide differential diagnosis. In certain sports some of them are particularly prone to hip injury, especially those involved in track or other running sports, soccer and dancing. Recently, Reuters reported about the hip replacement issue of Johnson & Johnson. The company said hip replacement recall was taking a quarterly charge of $3 billion from its earnings.

The age of the patient may suggest different diagnostic possibilities. For all age groups, an accurate diagnosis depends on a careful history, as noted by Dr. Samuel B. Adkins III,  assistant professor of family medicine and residency director of the family medicine program at the East Carolina University School of Medicine.

Moreover, patients whose hip pain is caused by pathology in other organs may have other associated symptoms. Unexplained weight loss, fever and night sweats indicate the possibility of a systemic inflammatory process.

Athletes may experience hip pain as a result of several conditions. For instance:

          Osteoarthritis

          Bone fractures

          Muscle tendon bursitis
          Labral tears of cartilage

          Iliotibial (IT) band syndrome

          Contusion (bruise, commonly called a hip pointer)

          Muscle strains and tendinitis (iliopsoas and proximal hip quadriceps strains)

In relation to this, the New York Times published an article in 2009 saying that Chips are bringing more athletes to their knees.

No matter what we do, as complex as we try and make workouts and training methods, we lose sight of other things,says Mackie Shilstone, a trainer based in New Orleans, who works with baseball, football and hockey players who are rehabilitating from injuries.

We tend to concentrate on what is directly in front of us. In all my years as a trainer, I have not seen anything like the increase in hip injuries that I have seen over the past two years, Shilstone adds.

Many of baseballs biggest stars, including Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees, Chase Utley of the Philadelphia Phillies and Carlos Delgado of the Mets, have been forced to the sidelines after having hip surgery.

According to the Times article, the number of players who were disabled because of hip and groin-muscle injuries has risen to 34 in 2008 from 20 in 2007. Throughout the first quarter of this season, at least 13 players have gone on the disabled list with hip injuries.

No one among sports medicine experts pointed to performance-enhancing drugs in explaining the rise in hip injuries, according to doctors.  However, problems with hip devices, as were the issues behind DePuy hip replacement recall, should also be considered by athletes before undergoing a hip replacement  surgery.

 

References:

    * uwmedicine.washington.edu/Patient-Care/Our-Services/Medical-Services/Rehabilitation-Medicine/Pages/ArticleView.aspx?subId=184
    * nytimes.com/2009/06/01/sports/01hips.html
    * aafp.org/afp/2000/0401/p2109.html

You can add items from the left menu by dragging them here.

DePuy Orthopaedics voluntarily recalled its ASR XL Acetabular System and the ASR Hip Resurfacing System on August 24, 2010.  This decision was also heeded by the US Food and Drug Administration. As smart regulation in the wake of the DePuy recall began to take shape, an FDA official sought stringent guidelines.
 
After DePuy Orthopaedics received data from an independent national registry from UK, they issued a voluntary recall on their products. The data indicated that within five years of having an ASR resurfacing device implanted, approximately 12 percent of patients have had revision surgery. Furthermore, 13 percent of patients who had an ASR total hip replacement for the past five years had to undergo revision procedure.
 
The DePuy recall and other health concerns regarding metal-on-metal hip implants have been handled actively by the FDA.  Several areas are currently worked on by FDA for them to thoroughly assess the safety and effectiveness of MoM hip implants.The agency has requested MoM hip implant manufacturers to submit device retrieval analyses.  FDA constantly appraises Medical Device Reports, post-approval study reports, data from several orthopedic device registries and published literature.  This is their way of better understanding the adverse events associated with metal debris on MoM hip systems.
 
On May 6 2011, the FDA issued orders for post-market surveillance studies to manufacturers of metal-on-metal hip systems. Manufacturers will be required to submit to the FDA a research protocol addressing specific safety issues related to these devices. Data obtained from the studies were meant to provide the agency a better understanding on the artificial hips and their safety profiles.
 
An FDA official urges smart regulation on these devices, as reported during the recently concluded Biotech conference.Dr. Jeffrey Shuren, director of the FDA Center for Devices and Radiological Health, remarked that the federal government needs to carry out strict policy enforcement.  "We needed to move away from this pendulum-swing approach, away from the idea of it's more regulation or less regulation. It's about smart regulation," Shuren stated. He further commented %u201CIt%u2019s not safety or innovation. It%u2019s safety AND innovation.%u201D
 
Dr. Shuren accentuated the redefinition of FDA%u2019s role. "We needed to move away from this construct that safety and effectiveness and facilitating innovation are incompatible. They are both sides of our mission," he says.
 
Patients who had the device are to continuously submit themselves for check-up, the FDA recommends.  The FDA strongly suggests that patients who are and are not experiencing DePuy hip symptoms ask for help from their attending doctor.
 
Reference:
mtstandard.com/lifestyles/health-med-fit/fda-official-talks-up-smart-regulation-at-biotech-conference/article_b04fe626-fee9-11e0-85bb-001cc4c002e0.html

articles.philly.com/2011-10-25/business/30320404_1_jeffrey-shuren-mark-leahey-artificial-hips

depuy.com/asr-hip-replacement-recall

fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ProductsandMedicalProcedures/ImplantsandProsthetics/MetalonMetalHipImplants/ucm241769.htm

You can add items from the left menu by dragging them here.

DePuy ASR hip implants were reported to have been used worldwide which has an estimate number of 93,000 hip replacement devices used. The DePuy Orthopaedics Inc., a branch of the pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, manufactures the ASR hip replacement devices which are known as ASR hip replacement products ASR%u2122 XL Acetabular System and DePuy ASR%u2122 Hip Resurfacing System. The invasive medical managements such as a hip replacement surgery use devices like the aforementioned hip replacement products. The damaged parts of the hip bones and/or hip joints are replaced with an artificial hip device with the purpose of regaining the former wide range of movements which was impaired when the person's affected body part started to fail due to various bodily anomalies.
There were claims, though, from patients who used the DePuy ASR products regarding alleged complications they experienced such as premature loosening of the hip replacement cups, dislocation of the hip implants and fracturing of the bones surrounding the hip prostheses. In response, DePuy Orthopaedics released a DePuy hip replacement recall notice last August 24, 2010. Oral Cancer Prevention International also filed a case against J&J, an added problem along with the DePuy hip replacement cases and recall. Regardless of the possible dangers in having a hip replacement surgery, the medical procedure has been found to be an effective intervention for serious damage to the hips.

The Procedure Hip Replacement Operation

A hip replacement surgery is an invasive medical procedure done to treat an irreparable injury of the hip bone. This is usually indicated for patients suffering from conditions that are characterized by loss of joint function and chronic pain seen in degenerative disease conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), osteoarthritis, selective bone fractures (e.g femoral neck fracture, hip fracture), and congenital hip disorders. Being an invasive major surgical procedure, there are risks involved. This should not discourage those who are considering this intervention, though, since there were quite a number of successful operations in the past.

The hip replacement prostheses is usually made of polyethylene but recent models now compose of metal-on-ceramic or, in the case of the DePuy ASR hip replacement system, metal-on-metal designs. A special type of cement is used to secure the hip replacement device and the most common cement used is methylmethacrylate cement. There are hip implants specially designed with coats which encourages bone growth of the surrounding bones.

The issuance of the DePuy hip recall allows patients who suffered from the ASR products to be reimbursed for the expenses they had due to the complications they experienced. For more information about the recall and related information, you can visit other sites relate to this.

Lawsuits against DePuy Orthopaedics, a Johnson and Johnson subsidiary, have started to pile up and litigants are inquiring about the compensation they will likely to receive. The company has since then received a lot of flack when they issued a recall of their hip implant devices, ASR XL Acetabular System and ASR Hip Resurfacing System such as when three Minnesota plaintiffs filed a DePuy lawsuit. Clearly, DePuy would not profess their guilt outright and present you with their payment. To attain the repayment you certainly have a right to, a DePuy lawyer would assist you with the steps you need to take through the litigation process.
Having a competent lawyer might not be enough and your actions could be of great assistance. In fact, there are a few items you could provide that would greatly aid in fortifying your case. They are the following:
Medical records. Documentation of any medical procedure you need to go through that pertains to the DePuy hip device you have received is important to support your argument. Provide your lawyer with these information. Payments made for these tests should be documented and kept as well.
Summary of expenses. These are items or services like wheelchairs, crutches, medication and a personal caretaker related to your hip implant injury. In addition to hospital bills, any expense made that is associated with the ASR complications should be accounted for.
Employer records. These are days when you failed to come to work due to reasons provided by your DePuy hip replacement device such as debilitating pain and a scheduled doctor's appointment. Missing work would mean lost wages. Those times you were not able to work should be recompensed.
Journal and photographs. Documenting your experiences that disabled you from doing things you normally do with a functional hip would be noted. A visual evidence is helpful which is why photographs indicating outward signs of damage is important as well.
Physical evidence. The extracted implant is perhaps one of the best form of physical evidence you could present before court. The company may have asked you to provide them with your extracted hip device so that they can run some tests on it. Despite what they say, you are not compelled to do this. Material evidence such as your explanted ASR hip device should be kept to strengthen your case.
Amassing key evidence along with the help of your hip replacement lawyer will improve your chances of winning this case against DePuy. Aside from the items stated above, your lawyer might need to ask some more items. The efforts done in keeping detailed documents will eventually push you towards the compensation that is rightfully yours. You may have a free consultation with an experienced product liability lawyer when you visit the ASR Hip Recall Information website today.