It has been some time since the August 2010 announcement of the voluntary DePuy ASR hip recall by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Despite this fact, there are many prosthetic recipients still coming forward with DePuy ASR hip replacement symptoms.

These symptoms are tied to the prosthetic unit’s ability to cause debilitating problems in a reported 13 percent of U.K. orthopedic patients.

Almost all those patients required corrective hip revision surgery and, with today’s sufferers of DePuy ASR hip replacement symptoms, the situation is no less dire.

DePuy ASR hip replacement symptoms are not unlike those of any other metal-on-metal prosthetic hip units. Hip prostheses are typically made of four major parts: a femoral stem, femoral head, acetabular cup, and liner. The liner, usually made of polyethylene plastic, articulates with the femoral head and takes the brunt of the friction of day-to-day movement with its joint stress.

With metal-on-metal hip prosthetics, no liner to the metal acetabular cup is used and the femoral head meets the acetabular cup directly. In many cases, the friction of the two metal parts has been found to shed cobalt and chromium debris into the joint and surrounding tissue and the bloodstream, causing a condition called metallosis.

DePuy ASR hip replacement symptoms include chronic pain and inflammation from the debris which lodges in the area and can produce non-cancerous tumors.

Other problems reported with these implant systems include dislocations, fractures, heart disease cardiomyopathy, thyroid and renal system issues, and even cancer. Some of these complications may not be recognized as DePuy ASR hip replacement symptoms, unless the tending physician is quite astute.

Cobalt Cardiomyopathy

According to an abstract of a case report published on Hindawi, a case study patient with heart disease completely baffled his doctors. While attempting to find a cause for his condition which was degenerating to such a degree as to threaten his life, the medical team came up empty.

After certain out-of-the-norm blood tests, it was discovered that the patient had very high levels of cobalt in the blood and the connection between this metal poisoning and bilateral hip arthroplasties four years earlier was understood.

After the patient underwent bilateral hip revision with prosthetic replacements that included metal-on-plastic or metal-on-ceramic units, the heart disease resolved. Subsequently, it was discovered that cobalt creates an anatomic cytotoxicity which can affect the cardiac, thyroid, and even neurological systems.

Are Cobalt and Chromium Carcinogens?

According to an article published by Nature, the human body requires a trace amount of certain metals for proper anatomical functioning. Cobalt and chromium are among those trace metals. Chromium assists with glucose metabolism, while cobalt ions have been known to assist vitamin B12’s work in the body.

Yet, largely because of a preponderance of cancerous lung tumors in workers occupationally exposed to large amounts, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has identified them as group 3 and group 2 carcinogens, respectively.

While the mechanism of action is not known, the high blood levels of cobalt and chromium that occur because of the leaching of debris from metal-on-metal hip prosthetics such as the DePuy ASR have been known to promote certain cancers.

If you or a loved one has experienced DePuy ASR hip replacement symptoms and have undergone a hip revision since March 2015, you might be eligible for compensation.