As more and more patients become aware of the design problems and side effects surrounding the Zimmer Durom cup hip replacement system, lawsuits continue to pile up in courts with more and more plaintiffs filing suit against the Zimmer Corporation. More and more surgeons, too, are speaking out about increasing rates of failure.
The Zimmer Durom cup failure was first brought to light in April of 2008, by a Dr. Dorr, who submitted an open letter to the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons outlining the rates of failure associated with the hip implant that he had observed in his own practice. Out of 165 Zimmer implants he had performed, 14 patients had to undergo hip revision surgery in order to correct problems associated with the hip replacement system in just two years after the initial surgery. Dr. Dorr postulated that the Zimmer Durom cup system was defective in design.
In July of the same year, sales of the Zimmer Durom cup were temporarily suspended for further investigation. After Zimmer ran tests, they determined that the design of the implant was not to blame and that faulty surgical practices were. Zimmer updated surgical instructions for proper technique and the product was once again made available, this time with an updated label.
Zimmer has claimed, despite studies that have apparently proved the contrary, that the devices they produce works as intended – and that surgical practices are to blame. Dr. Richard A. Berger performed a study on the frequent need for revision surgery and Zimmer’s response was that it was not their design that was at fault but the surgical technique implemented by surgeons that were responsible for implanting the device. However, the problem with this statement was that Dr. Berger was actually employed by Zimmer as a surgical consultant and had taught other surgeons how to implant the devices.
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