Patients who have received a hip implant need to be aware of the U.S Food and Drug Administration’s ASR hip recall. Unfortunately, the ASR hip recall suggests that certain patients who received the ASR hip might need revision surgery.

Additionally, these patients could be eligible to participate in a class action lawsuit investigation to determine whether the device maker, Johnson & Johnson, could have prevented the problem leading to the recall in the first place.

The ASR hip recall affects patients who received a version of the medical device that has been connected to problems and pain. A recall notice explains which patients should talk to their doctor about how to proceed. Those patients who have already been hurt and had to go through a revision surgery could investigate options to file a lawsuit.

Nearly half a million people across the United States have had some form of hip replacement surgery. The metal-on-metal hip implant generated by Johnson & Johnson and DePuy has been associated with thousands of different lawsuits and an ASR hip recall. Previously, this device was connected to a big DePuy ASR settlement for those patients who underwent hip revision surgery as early as March 2015.

ASR Hip Recall

The ASR hip recall is a Class 2 device recall that was initiated in August of 2010 and later terminated at the end of August of 2013. The recall notice affects the DePuy ASR Acetabular Cup System, a one-piece metal, acetabular cup, a femoral head and a taper sleeve adapter. The ASR Hip recall affects those patients who underwent total hip replacement procedures after suffering disability and severe pain linked to structural damage in their hip joint due to osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, collagen disorders, post-traumatic arthritis and avascular necrosis.

The ASR hip recall is intended to protect those patients who might be at risk of unnecessary side effects and pain due to receiving a possibly defected device.

The recall could additionally lead affected patients to pursue a lawsuit as a result of various reported injuries connected to the device, including the development of cancer, a dislocated hip, failure of the metal-on-metal hip implant requiring early replacement such as total revision surgery, leaking of toxic substances including metals into the blood stream such as cobalt or chromium, cardiomyopathy or degenerative heart disease, non-cancerous tumors, cobalt poisoning, tissue death for any tissue near the implant, and metal poisoning.

Metal-on-metal hip replacement systems, including the one named in the ASR hip recall, have been associated with debilitating and severe complications that have put patients at risk.

A number of different lawsuits claimed that the manufacturers of this device failed to warn patients or their doctors about the devastating consequences and side effects, putting patients at risk for unnecessary complications.

Patients often use information shared about medications and medical devices to make an informed decision about whether or not the risks outweigh the benefits. If you or someone you know has already been negatively affected by the ASR hip recall, you might have grounds to pursue a lawsuit.