Articles Tagged with Defective Knee

Three dimensional, or 3D, printing is much more impressive than most people realized when they first heard of the process. A 3D printer can function in one of two main ways. In one type of 3D printer, the printer takes a computer rendered image and then cuts out a design from a block of material, usually made out of some type of polymer. This design works similar to high priced C&C routers and is known as a destructive construction process. The reason it is called a destructive process is because, much a like a sculptor working with a block of marble, material is chipped away until the intended design is formed.

The really impressive form of 3D printing involves a process where the print heads create the item through emitting layer after layer of material until the design is complete. Not only can these designs be completely customized one at a time, because no construction run is required, they can also create interlocking pieces at the same time. For example, a 3D printer can print a series of interlocking rings without the need for any break in the metal or joint to link the rings, since they were constructed that way. Continue reading

Each year, more and more people are choosing to undergo total knee replacement surgery than in prior years. According to a recent report from Fox News, the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons estimates that over 600,000 patients undergo the procedure each year, and, by the year 2030, they estimate the number of total knee replacement patients will be over 2 million per year.

This is a huge number of people electing to have knee replacement surgery each year. However, when we use the term knee replacement, we are actually talking about two distinct types of procedures. The first type of procedure is known a partial knee replacement. In this type of operation, if the patient’s osteoarthritis is only in a single part of the knee joint, the doctor can remove the damaged material and use a partial knee replacement implant during surgery. Continue reading

We have seen a variety of different defective artificial knee replacement devices, and many of these defective products have been the result of negligence committed by various medical device manufacturers. We have seen problems with artificial joints manufactured by Stryker, DePuy, OtisMed and others.

What makes things different in the Case of OtisMed is that the CEO pleaded guilty to knowingly shipping knee replacement products after the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) denied an approval request to ship the articular product. In other words, the FDA found a particular knee replacement product did not have enough safety data and may be defective, but, as he admitted to in a criminal court in New Jersey, the owner decided to disregard the denial. Continue reading