DePuy Knee Replacement Doctors May Be Failing To Follow The Written Product Warnings

DePuy Knee Lawsuit News

The majority of knee replacement patients are senior citizens and overweight, the exact ones that should not be having knee replacements

Tuesday, April 23, 2019 - The DePuy Knee replacement system home page includes important safety information that it appears doctors may be ignoring when they recommend total knee replacement. Total knee replacement should be a treatment of last resort, however, most doctors will jump at the chance to perform the procedure. After all, doctors do not get paid by recommending that their patients improve their diet or lose weight. Doctors do not get paid by recommending holistic pain relief treatments that are not sold by established drug vendors or when they recommend a program of low impact exercises like taking yoga classes or swimming. Doctors love performing knee replacements because they are quick and lucrative. "On average, patients thought that surgeons should receive $18,501 for total hip replacements and $16,822 for total knee replacements. Patients estimated actual Medicare reimbursement to be $11,151 for total hip replacements and $8,902 for total knee replacements," according to Freakonomics.com.

The knee replacement safety information clearly states that age should be considered and that the knee's performance depends on a person's age. The older a person is, the less likely an artificial knee is to be expected to reduce the pain that the doctor says that is will. Health line.com reports the average age of a knee replacement patient is around 70 years old. "Most people who undergo a knee replacement are between the ages of 50 and 80. The average age is about 70. About 60 percent of the recipients are women." Osteoarthritis is usually accompanied with reduced bone density and strength in the elderly reducing the margin of error that an artificial knee is allowed. Fractures of the tibia or femur may be likely to occur when an elderly patient puts stress on the joint. DePuy knee replacement lawsuit lawyers represent families and individuals in the United States and offer a free consultation before filing a claim.

The second warning is being overlooked is a person's weight. The National Institute of Health reports that an unbelievable 75% of men and 66% of women are overweight or obese." Almost 3 in 4 men (73.7 percent) were considered to be overweight or have obesity, and about 2 in 3 women (66.9) were considered to be overweight or have obesity." Being overweight can double or triple the risk of having knee replacement failure as the knee is the most heavily used joint in the human body, required to support up to 4 times a person's body weight with every step. And that is under optimal health conditions. If a person is 25% or more overweight, the patient could put exponentially more stress on the knee joint when jumping, running or going down a flight of stairs or getting in or out of a motor vehicle.

A third warning that the DePuy artificial knee cement is prone to causing infections. Conspicuously absent from the DePuy home page important safety information is the fact that an unacceptably high number of DePuy knee patients have to undergo revision surgery due to an infection setting in from the glue that is used to cement the artificial knee in place. When de-bonding occurs there is nothing a patient can do as the lower part of the leg is now free to unpredictably rotate in any direction it pleases causing bone loss and excruciating pain.

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