DePuy Orthopaedics issued a worldwide recall over its ASR Hip Replacement series. It occurred in part because the National Joint Registry of England and Wales tracked a higher-than-normal failure rate for the devices. As far as modern medicine and state monitoring were concerned, the registry critically demonstrated its necessity. The quality of life for thousands of potential recipients was saved as they were spared the pain and humiliation of DePuy’s defective hip replacements.
In response, there are now two initiatives in the United States to create hip replacement registries: The American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR) and the National Orthopaedic Outcome Registry (NOOR). The AJRR is a private sector effort by orthopedists and artificial joint manufacturers to track artificial joints. The NOOR is a government registry that will survey people at the five hospitals at which most joint procedures take place, but it will also track people’s post-surgery experiences. Neither of these is close to fully operational, and potential recipients will be notified by their orthopedists if they wish to take part in them as privacy issues are paramount.
In the aftermath of the DePuy recall, since it also became apparent that the company likely knew about the implants’ defectiveness yet sold it on the market anyway, hundreds of people filed hip replacement lawsuits. Thousands more are likely to follow in a very large episode of mass tort litigation.
However, not all hip replacement lawyers are scrupulous in seeking DePuy recipients as clients. One would-be hip replacement attorney set up a web site claiming to be the “National Hip Recall Registry” and used it to direct clients to his practice. The site has been shut down. People wishing to reach a DePuy lawsuit settlement should be wary of attorneys masquerading as hip replacement registries.
In response, there are now two initiatives in the United States to create hip replacement registries: The American Joint Replacement Registry (AJRR) and the National Orthopaedic Outcome Registry (NOOR). The AJRR is a private sector effort by orthopedists and artificial joint manufacturers to track artificial joints. The NOOR is a government registry that will survey people at the five hospitals at which most joint procedures take place, but it will also track people’s post-surgery experiences. Neither of these is close to fully operational, and potential recipients will be notified by their orthopedists if they wish to take part in them as privacy issues are paramount.
In the aftermath of the DePuy recall, since it also became apparent that the company likely knew about the implants’ defectiveness yet sold it on the market anyway, hundreds of people filed hip replacement lawsuits. Thousands more are likely to follow in a very large episode of mass tort litigation.
However, not all hip replacement lawyers are scrupulous in seeking DePuy recipients as clients. One would-be hip replacement attorney set up a web site claiming to be the “National Hip Recall Registry” and used it to direct clients to his practice. The site has been shut down. People wishing to reach a DePuy lawsuit settlement should be wary of attorneys masquerading as hip replacement registries.
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