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Hip Recall Information:

Background on Durom Cup Status Contact Us

Zimmer Durom Hip Recall

In July 2008, Zimmer Holdings, the nation's number one producer of artificial joint components, announced that it was suspending sales of the Durom acetabular cup, an artificial hip component, as a result of high implant failure rates. View Document The high implant failure rate results from the inability of the Durom cup to bond with the host bone and, as a result, the implanted cup moves or "migrates" from the position it needs to be in to ensure satisfactory alignment and performance of the prosthetic hip.

At an April 2008 physicians conference, Dr. Lawrence Dorr, a renowned orthopedic surgeon located in Los Angeles, California, publicly warned other orthopedic surgeons about the implant's high failure rates. At that time time, Zimmer declined to halt sales and continued selling the Durom components until its July 2008 decision to "temporarily suspend" sales in the United States.

Zimmer has refused to admit that there is a product defect with the Durom components and, instead, has argued that American physicians lack the required skill or finesse to be able to implant the Durom components: "Like all metal-on-metal monoblock acetabular components, the technology and design parameters of the Durom cup demand a surgical technique with a higher degree of precision and specificity compared to more common and familiar hip arthroplasty surgical techniques practiced in the U.S."

In a July 24, 2008, New York Times article regarding the Durom cup, Dr. Dorr rejected such an assertion and succinctly stated the problem as follows: "It is a bad design."

In its ongoing investigation into the faulty Zimmer Durom hip components, the Levin Papantonio firm has discovered that the United States Food & Drug Administration received from orthopedic surgeons numerous adverse event reports (AERs) relating to the Durom acetabular component and its propensity to loosen and migrate. These reports began shortly after Zimmer began marketing the Durom hip components in 2006.

Levin Papantonio is currently reviewing cases where patients have received Zimmer Durom hip implants.