Leigh Day & Co solicitor Bozena Michalowska Howells said: 'We will be sending a letter of claim to DePuy and have instructed top experts. Our clients will claim for compensation for pain and suffering, loss of earnings and other financial losses.
'They will also be looking for compensation for care, the cost of operations and of any additional operations they will need. It's a very strong case. We hope DePuy will settle and it will not go to trial. This was an accident waiting to happen.'
DePuy manufactures and supplies medical implants such as hip and knee joints. The faulty implant, known as an ASRdevice, was introduced to the UK in July 2003.
It was one of a new generation of hip implants made from metal alone, rather than metal and plastic, and was supposed to last longer and prevent patients from losing too much tissue and bone when it was inserted.
However, surgeons began reporting problems with the implant in 2007 when patients started returning to hospitals in pain.
Aresearch team at Newcastle University, headed by bioengineer Dr Tom Joyce, found that the metal surfaces wore away, releasing tiny particles of chromium and cobalt into the body.
These were then absorbed into the bloodstream and surrounding tissues, causing inflammation, bone and tissue damage around the pelvis and, in severe cases, blood poisoning and benign tumours.
DePuy was alerted to the problems but only announced it was recalling the implants in August.
Dr Tom Joyce said: 'These devices were supposed to reduce the wear, and increase the longevity of the joint. What has happened is the opposite.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Johnson & Johnson's DePuy face £350m legal bill | This is Money
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