Patients have been reporting metal hip implant complications associated with the DePuy ASR hip implant. This popular metal-on-metal hip implant is manufactured by DePuy Orthopaedics and has been used in thousands of hip arthroplasty surgeries.

However, the number of injury reports have prompted the manufacturing company to recall two of its ASR hip implant components. The two ASR hip implant models are the DePuy ASR Acetabular System and DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing System, which have been found to cause a high rate of metal hip implant complications and necessitate a high rate of revision surgeries.

According to a 2011 internal investigation conducted by Johnson & Johnson, it was discovered that 40% of patients who had ASR hip implant models implanted would experience device failure within five years after the implant procedure.

The number of patients who have been implanted with these recalled ASR  hip implant components could be in the thousands. Critics say DePuy also did not properly describe the severity of metal hip implant complications when marketing these ASR hip implant models to the public.

Overview of Metal ASR Hip Implant Complications

As mentioned before, the ASR hip implant models in question are composed of all metal components and are marketed as metal-on-metal hip implants. All-metal hip implants are recent developments in the orthopedic medical community, and they have quickly caught on in popularity.

Manufacturing companies like DePuy market these metal hip implants to patients seeking a long lasting, durable replacement for their damaged hip bones. When they were initially released into the market, all-metal hip implants were advertised to be superior to their ceramic and plastic counterparts.

They were particularly popular with younger orthopedic patients, who wanted to live a relatively active lifestyle. However, reports of metal hip implant complications were soon submitted, with instances of metallosis or blood metal poisoning repeatedly occurring.

Metallosis is caused by metal ions being shed into the bloodstream, due to the ball and socket joint of the device interacting. This may also cause other debilitating complications including:

• Severe Pain
• Limited Movement
• Device Failure
• Corrosion
• Fretting
• Formation of Pseudotumors
• Tissue Death

Often patients would need to undergo revision surgery to resolve these problems, which is riskier than the initial implant surgery. Even though these metal hip implant complications can be potentially devastating for patients, DePuy allegedly failed to warn patients against ASR hip implant problems.