DePuy Synthes Targets Senior Citizens for Knee Replacement

DePuy Knee Lawsuit News

Do potential profits in the knee replacement business create an environment in which medical ethics could easily be compromised?

Friday, September 15, 2017 - Senior citizens are the perfect target for doctors looking to profit from performing largely unnecessary medical procedures and are being taken advantage of when doctors recommend expensive and dangerous total knee replacement surgery. Knee replacement surgery is the treatment of choice for conditions that commonly plague the elderly such as chronic rheumatoid arthritis osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and post-injury arthritis. The total number of knee replacement replacements performed in the United States alone in the first decade of the new millennium exceeded 5 million procedures according to the National Discharge Hospital Survey. The average age of a knee replacement patient is 66-69 years old. Doctors today perform knee replacement using the faulty logic that the procedure can be viewed as "preventative" of an arthritic condition that the patient will, in the trusted doctor's opinion, surely develop. In the past, the dangerous and expensive total joint replacement, be it a hip or a knee, was reserved for only the most advanced and severe cases of degenerative arthritis, but with insurance companies forking over billions, doctors and surgeons are only too willing to recommend it to almost everyone over 65 years old.

Putting profits before patient safety concerns should come as no surprise as the knee replacement device market, currently valued at around 9 billion dollars per year, is expected to grow to over 12 billion dollars per year in the next 5 to 10 years. In the past, arthritis would be treated with drugs, exercise, and a sensible diet, but now most doctors recommend the highly profitable knee replacement procedure. The average total hospital charge for total knee replacement surgery is almost $50,000. Not bad for a couple of hours of work and surgeons are only too eager to engage in the procedure.

An aging baby boomer population, those in the 65-85-year-old category, is the perfect demographic for medical device companies looking to profit from a surgical procedure market growing at a double digit rate. Knee replacements in developing countries like China and India only look to increase the knee implant market.

As people get older they become less active and demand less from their bodies and knees in particular. Physical activity notwithstanding, seniors feel the pain of infections, instability, and catastrophic falls as much as any other age group and are suing the maker of the DePuy Knee replacement for reimbursement of medical expenses, rehabilitation, lost wages and pain and suffering.

With the record number of total knee replacements being performed, more and more patients are complaining that they are in more pain than they had before undergoing the surgery. A recent study of 225 knee replacement patients that were forced to undergo revision surgery did so because of wear and tear on the joint, infections, and loosening at the points of insertion.

The personal injury and product liability law firm of OnderLaw provides free, no-obligation DePuy knee lawsuit consultation to assist knee replacement patients who continue to suffer from the negligence of DePuy Synthes knee replacement device.

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