New evidence continues to show a disconcerting lack of concern on the part of DePuy in regards to the safety of their ASR metal on metal hip implant. Our own Brian Panish recently questioned a marketing executive with the company during California state court proceedings, and the line of questioning brought some interesting documentation to the attention of the jury.
The aforementioned exec was questioned about a meeting that took place in Chicago in 2007. A PowerPoint presentation called “What Scares Us The Most in the Year Ahead?” was held during that event, and one such item that fell into that category was metal ion backlash.
Indeed, heightened levels of metal entering the bloodstream as a result of the two components of the ASR rubbing together have concerned many in the healthcare community. The threat that this metal poses to the patient is but one of the issues brought to the forefront by a lawsuit filed by Mr. Loren Kransky. He and many others were subject to a medical device which an internal study shows will fail in approximately 35.8% of cases after 4.57 years. Correction requires a painful revision surgery.
When asked by Mr. Panish if backlash over metal ion levels was a threat, the marketing executive concurred. He also stated that malpositioning could lead to the excessive shedding of metal debris. And in a video shot in 2008, this same executive was shown to be promoting the DePuy ASR product at a sales meeting in New Orleans. He himself agreed that this occurred after numerous red flags about the product came in to the company. Jurors saw this video, as well as emails from a DePuy engineer which further detail the possibility of excessive metal ion levels and the effect that data illustrating such could have on business.