The DePuy Revision Knee Can Come Unglued Just as Easily as the Original Device

DePuy Knee Lawsuit News

No amount of redesign can make a surgeon better at affixing the artificial knee device to an unlimited range of patient bone conditions

Monday, January 7, 2019 - Technically speaking one could argue that the DePuy knee replacement device works just fine. Great care has been taken by the company's scientific and medical experts to design an artificial device that is as close as possible to an exact replica of the human knee. In addition, trial and error have played a role in helping the company to fine-tune the DePuy knee even more. Lawsuits against DePuy have pinpointed the different ways that the device has failed to deliver on the promises that the company and doctors have made. In response to the complaints registered with the FDA, DePuy has totally redesigned their knee replacement product and now urge surgeons to use the DePuy Revision Knee Replacement Device. DePuy knee lawsuits for knee replacement systems experiencing symptoms such as pain, instability, bone damage and the need for revision, you may have grounds to file a DePuy knee lawsuit against the subsidiary of pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson

In a perfect world replacing an old arthritic knee with the mechanically near-perfect DePuy knee would make sense. The problems knee replacement patients have sometimes are caused by a defective knee replacement joint itself. The device does break and can cause the joint to lock up at an inopportune time such as when a person is walking down a flight of stairs. Most of the time, however, an unacceptably high percentage of knee replacement patients experience knee replacement failure due to the device debonding from the tibia and fibula bones to which it was attached. There could be no more catastrophic knee replacement failure than having the device come unglued. DePuy has been and continues to be extremely negligent in their design of the knee replacement device as it pertains to how the knee is attached to the patient's remaining leg bones.

When an arthritic or otherwise damaged knee joint is removed what is left is the lowest part of the femur and the highest point of the tibia (shin bone). These two surfaces are rarely in perfect condition and the older one is the less likely that these to platforms will be in pristine condition. Osteoporosis and osteoarthritis in older patients can cause the tibia and fibula to weaken and deteriorate. Each surface top and bottom must be prepared to exactly match the contact surfaces of the artificial knee and create a mechanical bond between the bones and the device. This is in addition to the chemical bond that must be created also. A physician must be trained like a bricklayer or drywall hanger as they are required to mix the dry powdered glue to exact proportions and to texture the bone's contact surfaces. Failing mix the medical glue perfectly can cause the glue to fail to set up or to degrade quickly. More importantly, failing to prepare the surfaces of the femur and tibia bones where the artificial knee comes into contact with them can cause the mechanical bone to fail immediately or quickly after the patient starts to walk and place stress on the connection.

DePuy Synthes has taken measures to address the issue of debonding and the resultant bone loss that has complicated knee revision surgery in the past. There is only so much they can do, however as a physician's expertise in preparing the contact surfaces of the leg bones and the device require a degree of care and expertise that physicians may not possess, causing the device to become debonded and leaving a patient in extreme pain and in danger of a catastrophic fall.

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