Zimmer continues to have problems, as indicated by another recall of their NexGen stemmed tibial component having been followed with a recall of the Zimmer NexGen CR-Flex artificial knee. Senator Chuck Grassley has also inquired into the reliability of the products Zimmer continues to put on the market.
The “loose knee” problems many patients with Zimmer implants are experiencing is a world-wide phenomena. In a European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology report titled “Are High Flexion Activities after High-Flex Total Knee Replacement Safe?”, researchers examined the factors contributing to what was determined to be a “high rate of aseptic loosening in femoral components of LPS-flex TKAs.” The report’s main conclusion of the Zimmer NexGen LPS-Flex knee replacement indicated a “high rate of early femoral component loosening, which was associated with weight-bearing high-flexion activities.” This report was authored by S.Kang; K. Sup Yoon; and H. Soo Han, and was published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery – British Volume, Vol 92-B, Issue SUPP_II, 322.
Incredibly, the FDA does NOT usually require artificial joint manufacturers, like Zimmer, to test its products in actual patients before artificial joints are marketed and sold to unsuspecting patients across the country. As the pending problems arise and increase, perhaps increased attentions will be focused on the problems many patients have had, or that are awaiting them.
Litigation has already began against Zimmer for its ongoing problems. Recently all the cases were consolidated to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
“These types of problems develop when the manufacturers ‘fast track’ their products without undergoing rigorous testing of the device that would have made sure the product was a safe one to begin with, just as we have experienced in the DePuy ASR hip implant and its related problems. The patients often face life threatening complications due to having to undergo a second, unnecessary surgery” – John Griffith
If you have had a Zimmer or DePuy product implanted inside your body, please call GriffithLaw for an evaluation of your situation.
