Consumer Alert Update: DePuy ASR Hip Implant Recall

Up to 49% Failure Rate Reported

In August 2010, DePuy Orthopaedics and Johnson & Johnson recalled the ASR XL Acetabular Hip System and the ASR Hip Resurfacing System. Approximately 93,000 of these devices have been implanted globally. Many studies report that these implants are failing early and at an alarming rate, requiring patients to undergo revision surgeries.1 In March 2011, the British Orthopaedic Association and the British Hip Society issued a statement that new data indicates the rate of revisions range from 21% at 4 years and 49% at 6 years after the original implant.2 Tara Sutton has been appointed to Co-Chair the Plaintiffs’ Law and Briefing Committee in the DePuy ASR MDL. Partner Vincent J. Moccio has been appointed to the DePuy MDL Discovery Committee.


1   See e.g., DePuy Orthopaedics Inc. Recall Notice, August 24, 2010, available at http://www.depuy.com/usen; G. Steel et al., Early Failure of DePuy ASR XL Total Hip Arthoplasty, Am. Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting Feb. 2011, Poster No. P076, available at www.aaos.org (finding ASR total hip replacement has 4 times the risk of revision compared to other conventional total hip replacements).

2   J&J Hip Failure Rate as High as 49 Percent, U.K. Doctors Say, Bloomberg News, March 9, 2011, available at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-09/j-j-hip-replacement-failure-rate-may-be-49-u-k-orthopedists-group-says.htm.

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