Arthritis and Knee Replacements

DePuy Knee Lawsuit News

Arthritis is a Common Cause of Knee Pain Requiring Knee Replacement Surgery

Friday, December 1, 2017 - Chronic, persistent knee pain is usually caused by a form of arthritis due to injury, old age, disease or a combination thereof. Osteoarthritis is a form of arthritis that occurs due to the "wear and tear" on the knee joint caused by simply getting older as the cartilage that cushions the knee joint deteriorates causing painful chafing and "bone on bone" contact. Osteoarthritis can lead to inflammation, swelling, and immobility. Since the cartilage will not regenerate itself, cartilage removal or knee replacement surgery is often recommended.

Doctors also recommend knee replacement surgery for elderly patients suffering from Rheumatoid arthritis, an inflammation of the knee membrane where synovial fluid builds up causing stiffening, pain, and immobility. Fluid on the knee can be drained but returns in a short period of time making the condition chronic and irreversible. Rheumatoid arthritis can affect any joint in the body and cause disfigurement in the appendage. Serious knee injuries can be irreparable and require knee replacement surgery. Left untreated, knee injuries can degenerate into arthritis with all of the above symptoms.

Patient like the ones above may opt for either a partial or total knee replacement depending on the extent of the damage to the knee joint. During knee replacement surgery, the damaged portion of the knee or the entire knee itself is removed and replaced with plastic and metal parts call a knee replacement device. Depuy Synthes the maker of the knee replacement system, is the medical devices arm of health care giant Johnson & Johnson and the second largest knee replacement company in the world. The company currently services approximately 40% of the knee replacement market worldwide. Its signature product, the knee replacement system, has come under scrutiny recently. A number of patient reports have claimed the knee failed shortly after being implanted and did not last the 15-20 year period the company claimed it would.

In response to complaints about the Knee replacement device , the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recalled the LPS Diaphyseal Sleeve and the LPS Lower Extremity Dovetail, two knee replacement devices manufactured by DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., the medical devices arm of Johnson & Johnson. The recall was of Class I, the most serious that the FDA can issue meaning that a malfunction in the device was likely, and could result in serious injury or death.

Depuy Knee Replacement Lawsuits

DePuy knee replacement patients that have experienced the early failure of the device have filed product liability lawsuits against DePuy Synthes and their parent company, Johnson & Johnson, alleging that the defective device has caused them to incur medical expenses, lost wages, pain, suffering and other losses attributable to the company's negligence. In September 2017, one of the first lawsuits was filed in Alabama against DePuy Synthes' knee replacement device on the grounds of the knee's premature failure. The DePuy knee replacement system has been named in numerous DePuy knee lawsuits by patients that suffer from the implant's coming unglued from the lower leg among other malfunctions. Dozens of patients have filed complaints with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration alleging that the failure of the system has resulted in looseness and instability forcing them to have to undergo knee revision surgery.

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