One former hip implant promoter has recently decided to make a personal injury claim against the manufacturer of the hip implants after she was left in excruciating pain from her own implant surgery, medical negligence experts say.
Former gymnast Penny Brown, from Bath, Somerset, has joined a group action personal injury compensation claim against DePuy, the pharmaceutical company that designed the hip implant. DePuy, a subsidiary of the pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, had featured the fifty one year old’s photographs in promotional brochures they had distributed worldwide in order to promote their hip implant replacement.
However, less than ten years after the replacement was implanted in her body, the former gymnast needed to have the metal on metal device surgically removed, due to fears that it could possibly lead to the development of tumours or cause tissue damage if it was left inside her. Now, after enduring two long years of chronic pain, and amidst concerns of may having to remain confined to a wheelchair for the indefinite future, Ms Brown has plans to sue the pharmaceutical company.
The implants were found to have exceeded the expected failure rate by double, according to official figures, and also contribute to excessive wear of the hip joints of patients that have the device inside them. This means that performing corrective surgical procedures is much harder to undertake because of damage done to the bone, medical experts say.
Nearly 300 other hip replacement patients who were fitted with the implant are joining the former gymnast in their quest for compensation from DePuy, while thousands more have been urgently told to seek medical advice.