The orthopedic division of famous global health care service provider Johnson & Johnson has declared that the company has discontinued the selling and manufacturing of all metal-on-metal hip implants across the country, the New York Times reported. Manifestation of adverse side effects brought about by DePuy’s metal-on-metal hip implants are being displayed to thousands of its recipients resulting to a significant climb in the number of lawsuits filed against the manufacturer, according to a report presented at the nytimes.com/2013/05/17/business/jj-is-phasing-out-metal-replacement-hips.html?smid=pl-share&_r=0. DePuy cited the significant downfall of its market demand and recent FDA ruling as the main reasons for the cessation of all metal-on-metal productions.

Plaintiffs for most ASR lawsuits have claimed that DePuy had early knowledge of the defects of the device two years prior to the August 2010 global product recall. In addition, a witness stated that DePuy executives were informed in 2008 by surgeons and consultants of the possible risks of premature failure. It was believed that DePuy not in any way mentioned its defects to doctors and patients and persisted in marketing the device instead.

Therefore, from 2005 through 2010, there are 93,000 ASR implants that were manufactured and sold to doctors who could have also exposed significant risks to its recipients because the company chose to neglect the matter at hand.


To know more about it, you may visit Johnson & Johnson Discontinuing All Metal-on-Metal DePuy Hip Implants

Osteoarthritis is believed to affect millions of American, thus, making it one of the largest bone diseases in the United States today, revealed by online sources. However, researchers conducting the large-scale studies said that a person’s genetic factor may play a role in developing osteoarthritis, says an article at ncl.ac.uk/press.office/press.release/item/new-study-finds-genetic-causes-of-osteoarthritis. This discovery may be regarded to be a significant development in understanding the link between the genetic factor and the development of the disease. Osteoarthritis is a medical condition which is represented by breakdown of the cartilages.The risk of developing osteoarthritis is raised by 50 percent due to inherited genetic factors.

Because osteoarthritis is considered to run in families, the osteoarthritis genes are continued to go on to the next generation, rather than their shared environment, The study on genetic factors may greatly benefit the researchers to conveniently point out the people with higher risk of developing osteoarthritis, such as those people whose risk factors include family history of osteoarthritis, hormonal changes, injury or obesity.The genetic regions, which may be the potential major risk factor that causes the development of osteoarthritis, are identified with great confidence by the researchers in the study.This considered as an essential first step.

However, the accurate function of the genetic risk factors is yet to be discovered but there is an impression that they made a huge impact by altering the function of chodrocytes, which are responsible for the production and maintenance of articular cartilage. These changes are believed to be exhibited in the early life during the first formation of cartilage; when subtle alterations in cell function may affect characteristics such as overall joint shape. In order to distinguish the actual DNA changes within the genetic regions, further research is required to establish exactly how these changes lead to osteoarthritis.In addition, researchers emphasize that other genetic variants remain to be discovered and that far more genes are involved in susceptibility to osteoarthritis than was thought.

Treatments for early osteoarthritis are limited to non-surgical options such as pain killers and physiotherapy until joint replacement becomes a viable option. The brand DePuy is one of the most popular hip replacement devices. Specifically, experts say, tiny fragments of metal shear off from these artificial joints, causing chronic pain or infection and raising levels of metal in the bloodstream. The DePuy hip recall page at depuyhiprecallnewscenter.com may be helpful to individuals seeking information about hip replacements.

References:

news-medical.net/news/20130702/Osteoarthritis-associated-genes-an-interview-with-Professor-Jonathan-Tobias-University-of-Bristol.aspx

arthrolink.com/en/osteoarthritis-folders/all-folders/genetics-and-osteoarthritis-0

arthritisresearchuk.org/news/press-releases/2012/july/major-new-study-finds-clues-to-the-genetic-causes-of-osteoarthritis.aspx

ncl.ac.uk/press.office/press.release/item/new-study-finds-genetic-causes-of-osteoarthritis

sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100921084539.htm

manchester.ac.uk/aboutus/news/archive/list/item/?id=8463&year=2012&month=07

bbc.co.uk/news/health-18676893