Before you consented to hip replacement or knee replacement surgery, you carefully weighed the pros and cons. You came to the conclusion that the inconveniences and temporary pain
of surgery were outweighed by the long-term relief from pain and the improvement to the quality of your life that could be accomplished with the hip or knee replacement surgery.
What you didn’t know when you provided your consent was that there were serious dangers and risks that you did not—and could not—have accounted for in your analysis. You didn’t know that you would suffer a serious side effect that would make your life worse instead of better.
Dangerous Complications Reported After Hip and Knee Replacements
Every surgery has risks and your doctors should review those risks with you so that you can decide whether or not to have the surgery. However, there may be some things that your doctor doesn’t know if the pharmaceutical company was negligent in the design, manufacturing, or marketing of the hip or knee replacement. In these cases, you may suffer a serious injury that you could not have anticipated.
At the time of your surgery, you may not have been warned of the following risks:
- Infections
- Metal poisoning
- Broken bones
- Joint problems
These risks could result in significant pain, additional surgeries, and lifelong disabilities. Once the knee or hip implant is in your body it is difficult to get out of your body. At the very least, the removal of the device requires an additional surgery. However, if the implant is compromised or if it has impacted your bones or joints then the surgery may be very difficult or impossible to complete.
Knee Replacement Failures
Some examples of the knee replacement implants that have caused serious side effects include:
- DePuy Synthesis Attune Knee Replacement Implants. Premature failure rates of DePuy Synthesis Attune Knee Replacement Implants have been reported. The implant may loosen in as little as one year after implant and cause pain, infection, injury, and additional surgeries.
- Zimmer Persona Knee System and High Flex Knee Implant. Both of these knee replacements may have large gaps or may loosen prematurely. These issues can cause significant problems including tissue and bone damage.
This list is not all-inclusive. Other knee replacements have also resulted in similar injuries that may have been caused by a pharmaceutical company’s negligence.
Hip Replacement Failures
Below are some examples of defective hip replacement implants that have resulted in serious injuries:
- Stryker's LFIT Anatomic CoCr V40 Femoral Heads. These parts of Stryker hip replacement implants had a significant incidence of taper lock failures. The taper lock connected the femoral stem to the femoral head. When it failed, patients suffered pain, joint instability, broken bones, metal poisoning, and other injuries.
- Stryker Rejuvenate and ABG II Hip. The metal parts of the neck and stem can corrode and cause tissue damage, metal poisoning, and other injuries.
- DePuy Pinnacle Hip Replacements. These metal-on-metal hip-replacement devices can result in metal poisoning and may have a significant early failure rate.
Again, this list is not all-inclusive and you may have a legal claim if you suffered a similar injury from a different type of defective hip replacement.
Protect Your Rights After a Hip or Knee Replacement Injury
Your injury is unique and it impacts your life in a very personal way. If your hip or knee replacement injury occurred because of the pharmaceutical company’s negligence, then you deserve to make a fair recovery of damages for your past and future medical costs, lost income, out-of-pocket costs, pain, suffering, and other losses.
You don’t have to pursue this recovery alone, however. Instead, you may be able to join others who have suffered similar injuries from the same joint replacement in a mass tort case. In a mass tort case, you and the other plaintiffs can share the costs of litigation while maintaining your rights to individual recoveries.
To learn more about whether you might have a mass tort claim and about how to protect your legal rights, we encourage you to contact us today for a free, no-obligation consultation. Our experienced legal team will review your claim and help you make the legal decisions that will protect your future.
Are You Looking for a Mass Tort Attorney in Boston, MA?
If you have been injured by a defective medical device you need to speak with an experienced mass torts lawyer as soon as possible. Please contact us online or call our Natick Office directly at 888.904.6847 to schedule your free consultation.
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