Australian Senate Wants Health Authorities to Take Action against DePuy
Johnson & Johnson is not only getting trouble in the United States with its DePuy Articular Surface Replacement (ASR) hip systems, but its attention is also being called in Australia wherein one of its Senate committees has urged its health authorities to take action against the implant manufacturer. The Senate community affairs references committee described as "intolerable and unacceptable" the suffering that the hip implant has caused to hundreds of patients. Facing a number of lawsuits in connection to its implant's high failure rate, DePuy is also being sued by its rival over hip implant design
The DePuy ASR hip device has been fitted in 93,000 patients worldwide as stated in the company's website. Some 5,500 of those who have received the hip implants are Australians and a lot of them had to undergo not just one but two or more revision surgeries. "Serious and systemic health problems extending beyond the initial complications caused by the device" have also been reported by patients fitted with the metal-on-metal hip implants.
The issue is described as a "ticking time bomb" facing many patients by the Senate committee. And as a result, has called for the Department of Health and Ageing to prioritize alerting doctors, patients and the public about the issues associated with the DePuy devices as well as options for treatment and the reporting of adverse outcomes. The department was also urged by the committee to "consider the best ways to monitor the levels of cobalt, chromium and other toxic metals which have been recorded in patients who received the metal-on-metal hip implants."
Major flaws in the way the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) dealt with information detailing problems with the devices, was highlighted by the issue, according to Independent Senator Nick Xenophon, who had called for the inquiry into the DePuy implants. The TGA had allegedly not listened to the concerns raised about the devices until December 2009, more than a year after the concerns were raised, said Senator Xenophon. Patients had suffered from pain, multiple surgeries, extended hospital stays, financial loss and personal anguish, said committee chairwoman Greens Senator Rachel Siewert.
It had taken three years for the product to be recalled after evidence came out that the implants had a high failure rate back in 2006 as pointed out by orthopaedic expert Stephen Graves at a Senate committee hearing last September. The Australian head of Johnson & Johnson, Anthony Bishop, had expressed the company's regrets over the incident before the Senate committee last September. Johnson & Johnson reimbursed more than $21 million in claims to more than 3,500 patients in Australia who had registered with the company's claim processor.
Due to legalities, the company would not answer questions about its response to earlier advice of the product's failure and why it took so long to withdraw it, said Bishop. In December 2009, Australia became the first country to withdraw the two DePuy hip implants. In Australia, solicitors acting on behalf of people affected by the allegedly faulty hip implants filed an action against DePuy in the Federal Court last September seeking compensation for harm, which means that the DePuy ASR lawsuit is not only rising in the United States. Allegedly, DePuy, owned by the medical giant Johnson & Johnson, allowed the products to remain on the market despite sufficient evidence showing the devices were causing harm which is why claimants are also seeking punitive damages.
The DePuy ASR hip device has been fitted in 93,000 patients worldwide as stated in the company's website. Some 5,500 of those who have received the hip implants are Australians and a lot of them had to undergo not just one but two or more revision surgeries. "Serious and systemic health problems extending beyond the initial complications caused by the device" have also been reported by patients fitted with the metal-on-metal hip implants.
The issue is described as a "ticking time bomb" facing many patients by the Senate committee. And as a result, has called for the Department of Health and Ageing to prioritize alerting doctors, patients and the public about the issues associated with the DePuy devices as well as options for treatment and the reporting of adverse outcomes. The department was also urged by the committee to "consider the best ways to monitor the levels of cobalt, chromium and other toxic metals which have been recorded in patients who received the metal-on-metal hip implants."
Major flaws in the way the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) dealt with information detailing problems with the devices, was highlighted by the issue, according to Independent Senator Nick Xenophon, who had called for the inquiry into the DePuy implants. The TGA had allegedly not listened to the concerns raised about the devices until December 2009, more than a year after the concerns were raised, said Senator Xenophon. Patients had suffered from pain, multiple surgeries, extended hospital stays, financial loss and personal anguish, said committee chairwoman Greens Senator Rachel Siewert.
It had taken three years for the product to be recalled after evidence came out that the implants had a high failure rate back in 2006 as pointed out by orthopaedic expert Stephen Graves at a Senate committee hearing last September. The Australian head of Johnson & Johnson, Anthony Bishop, had expressed the company's regrets over the incident before the Senate committee last September. Johnson & Johnson reimbursed more than $21 million in claims to more than 3,500 patients in Australia who had registered with the company's claim processor.
Due to legalities, the company would not answer questions about its response to earlier advice of the product's failure and why it took so long to withdraw it, said Bishop. In December 2009, Australia became the first country to withdraw the two DePuy hip implants. In Australia, solicitors acting on behalf of people affected by the allegedly faulty hip implants filed an action against DePuy in the Federal Court last September seeking compensation for harm, which means that the DePuy ASR lawsuit is not only rising in the United States. Allegedly, DePuy, owned by the medical giant Johnson & Johnson, allowed the products to remain on the market despite sufficient evidence showing the devices were causing harm which is why claimants are also seeking punitive damages.
