Faulty Hip Replacement Surgery

[greenteaj]

My aunt had hip replacement surgery a few years back and she has since experienced sharp pains and swelling and she also has trouble walking. I am not a doctor, but I think there is a chance that these have been caused by a defective hip implant they inserted.

I read in the news that there was a recall of some products in the US and England by a company called DePuy, who manufacture them and when I did some google searches for hip replacement claims, I came across www.hipreplacementclaims.co.uk and other sites, which show that there is an ongoing lawsuit and I thought it would be worth looknig into whether she should make a hip replacement claims in the uk. My aunt had her hip replacement surgery at a london hospital.

Does anyone know anything about this? If so, I would be grateful for some advice before she goes to any trouble, as she is elderly. I cannot say for sure whether in fact she has a DePuy implant, but I have told her to try to find out for sure. Thank you. xJo

What does her doctor say?

I think she said originally it could be arthritis, but she plans on going to see her GP again soon, so I'll need to ask her once she's been in and get back to you. Do you know anyone with similar issues? I'm curious to hear about others peoples' experiences.

I remember hearing about the faulty replacements. I just thought that the first thing you need to do is to ascertain whether it was one of the faulty ones and whether the GP thinks this could actually be the call. Any legal recourse would depend on that.

"call" should be case.

Your aunt needs an expert medical opinion. The problem with hip replacements is that they aren't always successful, there is always an element of risk and your aunt's problems may not be due a faulty replacement. For this reason hip replacements are usually only carried out as the lesser evil when someone is suffering significant pain.

I would have to second SoupDragon's comments about the faulty replacements. I guess as long as the implant isn't one of those, your aunt would be generally safe, otherwise, I suggest you read this article www.rotlaw.com/lawsuits/depuy-asr-hip-replacement-lawsuit/ for legal assistance

I have one word for you: Limitation.

You have a time limit in which to bring a claim and that claim is 3 years from the date of negligence. She had the implant inserted several years ago. if she developed the pain and symptoms more than 3 year years ago, she's out of time.

Doesn't limitation begin from the date of knowledge?

She needs to be referred back to her original orthopaedic consultant for investigations.

Aargh. I've done it again. Clicked on a legal thread. Problem is I'm tired and want to give pithy answers but those are never sufficient.

In some circumstnaces yes it can start from the date of knowledge. But it is best to be cautious. It depends how long this lady has had significant problems with her hip replacement for. If she's been in pain for several years and not looked into it then it will asked why she didn't. It's always best to be cautiosu re limitation. It would be hard to argue why time shouldn't start running until now if something has clearly been up for several years and she hasn't looked inot it.

Yes. It can be a grey area. I got the impression the lady has only just realised the pain could be caused by the hip replacement. That's why I raised the point

I'm off now. I've been accused of being patronising and always thinking I am right on another thread for stating my opinion I am steering well clear of these threads for a while.

Your aunt really needs good law suit expert. She must be claim in starting days when she felt pain.
depuy hip implant lawsuit

Start by requesting a review of her problems now with the surgeon who put in the implant. Is she still having routine follow up? They want to know, to minimise the risks to other patients, as much as to sort out your aunt herself.

It may be that the symptoms she is having have nothing to do with the hip joint or it's a completely different implant from the ASR. There are loads of different ones available - does your aunt know what she has in? Or the bearing surface? The problems with the ASR were partly down to a large surface, partly the specifics of the design and partly the metal rubbing on metal. There are many more done as metal-on-plastic or ceramic-on-ceramic, and the majority are smaller heads.

If she's having problems with her hip, she needs to see a surgeon (either the same one or a second opinion, either should be NHSable) before running off to a lawyer, surely.

Why are you dredging up a thread nearly a year old?

Because its an advert for a law firm.

bloody ambulance chasers