Articles Posted in Stryker Hip

Hip replacement surgery may not make you feel 20-years-old again, but a properly-designed artificial hip should last at least 20 years, and should not cause you substantial pain. Unfortunately, a significant number of defective hip replacements are on the market. Consumers may assume the pain is merely a symptom of the surgery, and many turn to opioids to cope.

According to a recent article from the Gloucester Times, a study at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston involving 156 hip replacement patients took a look at how long-term opioid use can affect hip replacement operations and the level of pain suffered by patients.

Boston Product Liability lawyer Many patients who elect to have a total hip replacement operation have been suffering from chronic pain for a long time before having surgery.  This is because many get a total hip replacement following a degenerative hip disease such as osteoarthritis. Continue reading

Hip replacement surgery has become one of the most often performed elective surgical procedures in the United States.  This involves the total replacement of the patient’s natural, but damaged hip joint, which an artificial hip implant manufactured by a medical device firm.  While there are many names for the different firms, these days, they are often subsidiaries of a handful of major pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers.

surgeryA recent news article from ABC 6, takes a look at how a modern hip replacement is performed and what a patient can expect during his or her recovery.  As discussed in the article, in the 1990s, having a total hip replacement involved a having an open incision followed by a stay in the hospital of two weeks or more and then being placed in a lengthy rehabilitation program.  There was a lot of time spent in rehabilitation, and this was not only a long, but also a painful process. Continue reading

According to a recent news feature from Food Safety News, over 22 tons of frozen appetizers (marketed as Kabob’s Hors d’oeuvres) have been recalled to due a recent outbreak of E. coli bacterial illness.  There are many different products this company manufactures that are sold to restaurants and big box retailers and discount warehouses. There are dozens of different varieties of recalled products, including mini pizzas, spring rolls, pot stickers, and many other similar frozen appetizers that are not shipped ready to eat, as they do require cooking.

surgery1The problem did not come from the factory where the frozen food products were manufactured, but rather it was from the flour manufactured by General Mills, Inc. and shipped to this company for use in their food products.  As soon as the flour company notified them of the potential for E. coli contamination, the company voluntarily recalled any product that used that flour to avoid any injury. Continue reading

According to a recent news article from the Times-Herald, a patient interviewed was a former college football player at East Tennessee State University and a life long athlete who had developed severe arthritis in both of his hips. His doctors told him there was virtually no chance he would be able to continue walking if he did not have a double hip replacement.

surgery-117629-m.jpgThe patient, now 56 years old, said he did not want a double hip replacement. There was no way he wanted to undergo the surgery and did everything he could to avoid the procedure. He said his daily pain level was eight out of ten and sometimes worse. He needed a walker and a cane just to get around.

Finally, after the pain got unbearable, he spoke to a new doctor who had recently relocated to the area and was using a relatively new procedure during surgery known as anterior total hip arthroplasty. Patient listened to what the doctor had to say and also did his own research. He determined the new procedure, which had been around for some time at other hospitals, was as good as advertised, and with this new approach, healing and rehabilitation took two months less on average than when using conventional surgical procedures for total hip replacement.
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Boston’s PBS affiliate, WGBH, recently featured a program showing what it is like to be in the operating room during a minimally invasive total hip replacement surgery. Traditional methods involved making a 12-inch incision along the side of a patient’s hip and dislocating the hip joint from the pelvis. This method, still used in patients over 60 and who have other health issues, requires patients to stay in the hospital for days or even weeks and undergo a slow and painful recovery process. The large incision also increases the risk patients will develop a serious infection following surgery.

doctorpatientrelationship.jpgWith minimally invasive techniques, only a six-inch incision is needed at the top of a patient’s hip, and dislocation is not required in many cases. This means a patient can typically go home that same night and sleep in his or her own bed. This also means there will be less pain during recovery, less risk of an artificial hip failure, and less time away from work or one’s other daily routine.

The reason doctors are able to perform a minimally invasive total hip replacement surgery is though the use of modern technology. It all begins with surgeons and radiologists working together to take a CT scan of the patient’s pelvic area while he or she is in the operating room. Doctors then use a computer and the CT image to make a three dimensional virtual model of exactly how the operation will work. There is an electronic signaling device used to guide the surgeon while he or she is watching a monitor while the movements occur inside the patient.
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According to a recent news article from Medical News Today, men suffer more complications resulting from total hip and knee replacement surgery than woman who undergo the same procedure. Both surgeries are used in patients with painful joint arthritis and joint deterioration.

doctorpatientrelationship.jpgWhile, in some cases, a patient has suffered an acute trauma to the knee or hip where the joint is actually broken, most patients get the respective surgeries after living for years with chronic pain, and it gets to a point where they can no longer deal with the discomfort.

Researchers discovered how men fair worse after having surgery than women. First, the study noted, while men typically have total hip replacement or total knee replacement at an earlier age than women, they are more likely to not only have increased pain, but need second or subsequent surgeries to address the complications.

The study examined data from patients who had total joint replacement procedures at a single hospital between 2002 and 2009. This included almost 100,000 patients, which gives us an idea of the vast number of people having total hip and total knee replacements each year. The numbers of women having the procedures was slightly higher than men, but the numbers where close to being balanced. The numbers also reflected an average age of female patients being 70 and the average age of male patients being 65, which is standard.

When examining post-operative data, researchers found men were around 15 percent more likely to go to the emergency room for joint replacement complications than women within a month following surgery. Men were also more likely to have a heart attack following surgery than women, and men were 50 percent more likely to need a second surgery within two years to deal with the complications.
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Total hip replacement surgeries in the United States have increased by astonishing rates over the past decade. Medical device manufacturers have been heavily marketing new artificial hips to surgeons and patients as a way to get rid of the pain of arthritis and allow people to function as they did when they were years younger.

lab-work-876606-m.jpgWhile many patients actually need a new hip, many may not. Additionally, regardless of the need for a total hip replacement, no patient needs to be victim to one of the numerous defective hips and surgical cutting guides that have hit the market. Victims have suffered extreme pain and suffering, partial or complete failures of their new artificial hips, and other serious health conditions related to a defectively designed medical device.

According to a recent news article from the Daily Mail, doctors in England are in clinical trials with a new technique they hope will one day lead to an end to total hip replacement surgery. This new technique uses an experimental product called Preob, which is called an osteoblastic (bone-forming) agent.
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Stryker is one of many manufacturers working to resolve complaints arising from the sale of metal-on-metal hip implant products.

According to Market Watch, Stryker has now agreed to settle many of the claims pending against the company. An estimated $1 billion will be provided to certain victims of defective hip replacement and hip implant products as part of the settlement. class action cecerification.jpg

Before accepting a settlement or joining a mass tort, victims harmed by Stryker or other hip implant products need to consult with a Boston defective medical device lawyer. Once plaintiff has accepted a settlement, it is not possible to later seek broader compensation – even if the condition worsens.

Victims need to determine if they are eligible for compensation through the recent Stryker settlement, and if accepting money from the settlement is the right choice for them.
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Since Stryker and Depuy hip-replacement devices have been recalled and cited in injuries to some 90,000 people, the companies have hired a third-party claims administrator to help mitigate the damage.
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Our Boston Stryker hip attorneys recognize that the role of this firm, Broadspire, is similar to what we might expect from an insurance claims adjuster. Representatives from Broadspire work to contact individuals who may have implants that have been recalled or are defective. They then seek to glean information regarding whether that individual has suffered any damages as a result, determine what out-of-pocket expenses for any treatments or surgeries and may even offer a compensation package.

It’s critical that anyone contacted by Broadspire recognize two things: One, there is a good chance you may have a legitimate claim for a lawsuit. Secondly, Broadspire is not interested in obtaining fair compensation for you. Rather, this company works for the manufacturer. The goal is to rope you into a settlement agreement so that you will sign away your right to sue, potentially putting you in a position where you are forfeiting tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation.
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Stryker has set aside $133 million in order to defend or settle cases arising from defective hip implant products. Problem products include the Stryker Rejuvenate and the Stryker ABG II. Both products contain metal components, although they are not traditional metal-on-metal hip implant systems. surgery-117629-m.jpg

Unlike most hip replacement products, which have a metal acetabular cup and a metal femoral head, Stryker products have four parts including a femoral stem, metal neck, ball and cup. This creative design does not make Stryker products any safer than other metal-on-metal devices and Stryker faces accusations that the company is responsible for serious damage that patients experienced after hip replacement procedures. Victims affected by Stryker products can pursue their own claim for compensation and should speak with a defective hip implant lawyer in Massachusetts for legal help.
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