Nearly one million joint implant surgeries are performed each year in the United States, but little is done to actually protect those patients from recalls or faulty prostheses. No warranties are offered on these products, and because the U.S. lacks a national joint registry, early detection of defective implants rarely occurs.
The recent recall of the ASR XL Acetabular System, a metal-on-metal implant made by DePuy Orthopaedics, a division of Johnson & Johnson, has raised serious questions about how such prosthetics are tested and how their real-life performance is tracked. As a Charleston DePuy hip replacement recall lawyer, it upsets me that it took nearly two years of patient complaints for the Food and Drug Administration to issue a July 2010 recall of DePuy ASR hip joints. A national joint registry could allow for more accurate performance statistics and speed up a recall.
Countries including Australia, Britain, Norway and Sweden already have joint registries that allow for more accurate tracking of joint implant devices and allow for doctors to make better product choices for their patients.
Experts estimate the lack of data conducted by a national joint registry in the United States doubles the risk of a revision surgery with patients who have a faulty joint. As a North Charleston personal injury attorney, I think a national joint registry would largely benefit the success rates of joint implant surgeries.
