Problems with Loose Zimmer Durom Hip Joint Replacement Cups
Maglio Christopher & Toale, P.A. is one of the nation’s leading law firms in metal on metal joint replacement cases. On August 11, 2008, Maglio Christopher & Toale, P.A. filed the first lawsuit in the United States against Zimmer, Inc. over their defective Durom hip cups.
We’ve helped clients across the United States get compensation for their failed Zimmer Metasul Durom hip cups. In fact, Maglio Christopher & Toale, PA charges you no legal fees and no expenses unless the outcome of your case is successful. If you don’t recover money, then there is no cost to you for our legal services.
What to do if You Have a Zimmer Durom Hip Replacement
- Contact a medical product liability attorney BEFORE you have any further surgery to repair the problems with your Durom cup.
- DO NOT sign Zimmer’s release of liability forms. This likely means that in the future you cannot sue Zimmer for your injuries. If you sign such a release, you are giving away your rights and may subject yourself to a suit by your health insurer, Medicare, or Medicaid.
- If you have a Zimmer Durom hip cup implanted in your body and you are experiencing problems, you need to consult with an experienced medical product liability attorney immediately.
- You can submit your case for evaluation to Maglio Christopher & Toale, P.A. by filling out the contact form on the right side of this page.
- There are several additional pre-revision-surgery steps that our law firm asks clients to take that we believe will be beneficial to their cases.
Information We Need to Review Your Defective Durom Hip Case
- The orthopedic surgeon’s office chart
- The operative reports for the original joint replacement surgery and the revision surgery
- The device record for the original surgery from the hospital chart (this shows the product and lot numbers of the components of the device).
- We like to have the parts of the Zimmer Durom hip system that were removed from your body during revision surgery. It is essential that you get possession of any removed components as soon as possible as these can be used as evidence
Zimmer Durom Cup
There are Several Zimmer Hip Replacement Products. Which One is Defective?
There is confusion among patients and attorneys about which Zimmer product is part of the defect litigation. It’s important that your attorney understands the difference between these hip replacement systems.
Zimmer Durom hip resurfacing system
This system was almost never sold in the U.S. because the FDA did not approve it for use in hip resurfacing. These systems are rarely the failed Zimmer Durom hip replacement cups that we see in the United States.
Zimmer Durom hip cup, head, and neck adapter
This is the hip replacement system that was pulled from the U.S. market by Zimmer, Inc. Sales were suspended in July, 2008.
Background on the Problems with the Zimmer Metasul Durom Hip Replacement
Zimmer, Inc. designed and marketed the Metasul Durom hip replacement cup for use in young, active patients who are likely to outlive a conventional hip implant.
Unfortunately, these cups are failing at a much higher rate than expected.
This problems became public in spring of 2008 when a highly respected orthopedic researcher and surgeon, Larry Dorr, MD, reported that a very high rate of Durom hip cups implanted at his clinic needed to be surgically removed and replaced within two years of implantation.
In an April 22, 2008, letter to his colleagues at the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons, Dr. Dorr wrote:
“This failure rate has occurred within the first two years. In the first year the x-rays looked perfect. We have revised four that did not have any radiolucent lines or migration (and John Moreland revised one). These early cups fooled us, but the symptoms were so classic for a loose implant that we operated the patients. When we hit on the edge of the cup it would just pop free. As time goes by the cups begin developing radiolucent lines. We now have one cup at two years that has actually migrated a short distance. It has tilted into varus. We do not believe the fixation surface is good on these cups. Also there is a circular cutting surface on the periphery of the cup that we believe prevents the cup from fully seating. We stopped using the cup after the first revisions.”
Zimmer Briefly Suspends Sales of the Durom Hip Replacement Cup
Zimmer has so far blamed problems on surgeon error rather than on their product, but the facts suggest otherwise.
According to Dr. Dorr, a paid Zimmer consultant who has implanted thousands of hip replacement devices over the years, more than 8 percent of his Zimmer Durom patients required surgery within two years and as time goes by the number of device failures may continue to increase.
As of July of 2008, at least 12,000 patients in the United States had Durom Cups implanted in their hips.