DePuy Knee Replacement Lockups and Infections

DePuy Knee Lawsuit News

Thousands of DePuy knee replacement recipients are reporting life-threatening complications after having their knee replaced

Monday, March 19, 2018 - The DePuy knee replacement system, manufactured by DePuy Synthes, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson was once touted as a solution for chronic, debilitating knee pain or an irreparable knee injury. Patients that have undergone knee replacement surgery are reporting, however, that the DePuy knee is producing side-effects that can be more serious than the condition that the device was originally intended to fix. Patients that have undergone total knee replacement using DePuy's knee are reporting serious side effects such as the having catastrophic falls from the knee locking up. Patients are also suffering from more chronic pain as the knee joint device can become wobbly and unstable. Other patients report that they have developed serious infections due to the lack of sterility of the product in packaging. If that was not enough, some patients are having allergic reactions to the metallic and plastic shavings that components in the artificial knee produce from normal wear and tear.

DePuy Knee Failure

The DePuy knee replacement can become wobbly, unstable and suddenly lock up causing a catastrophic fall. Imagine what happens to a worker on a construction job falling from the second floor or higher of the building they are working on or falling from a ladder or falling down a flight of stairs. Even when on a level surface, a person that experiences an artificial knee lock up knows that they can be in for a long period of being out of work, being immobile and experiencing a lot of pain. Artificial knee lockups can cause the muscles, tendons and ligaments that support the knee can be stretched or snapped causing weeks of swelling and pain. The likelihood of serious injury or death from the DePuy knee locking up is so high that the FDA recalled the LPS Diaphyseal Sleeve and the LPS Lower Extremity Dovetail, because the government agency felt there was a reasonable probability that a malfunction in the device will occur.

Revision surgery is normally required to "replace the knee replacement," as well as repair the afore-mentioned connective tissues. Revision knee surgery carries all the risks of other surgeries including having to undergo anesthesia. Tens of thousands of DePuy knee replacement patients have experienced the catastrophic consequences of falling when the DePuy knee replacement locks up, many of which do so in less than one year from the time of the original knee replacement.

The DePuy knee replacement device causes infections. More than 500,000 people have undergone knee replacement surgery and have had the DePuy knee replacement device implanted in them. As a result of the metal on metal contact that occurs under normal walking conditions, metal shavings occur that can cause an allergic reaction or even an infection. Infections can be serious and life-threatening as an infection can enter the bloodstream and damage the body's vital organs including the kidney, liver, and heart. Other infections have been reported to be the result of unsterile packaging at the DePuy factories that manufacture the device. A sign that the DePuy knee is causing an infection is pain, redness, and swelling in the area of the knee joint.

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