According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), there are about 270,000 knee replacement operations performed each year in the United States. Many people receiving such surgery are over the age of 65 although the number of knee replacements performed on young adults is growing every year. http://www.surgery.com/procedure/knee-replacement/demographics. There are hundreds of companies that provide joint replacement products and one such Indiana based company is Zimmer holdings. www.zimmer.com. Traditionally, knee implants are attached to the femur with cement. Adhesive can break down and may lead devices to fail. Zimmer manufactures an uncemented knee replacement device, the Zimmer NexGen CR-Flex product. The Zimmer NexGen CR-Flex is a synthetic femoral implant which caps the femur (thigh bone) where it connects to the tibia at the knee, without cement.
The FDA recently recalled Zimmer NexGen Knee replacement devices, http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfres/res.cfm?id=86898, because they were malfunctioning in an unusually high rate of patients http://www3.aaos.org/education/anmeet/anmt2010/podium/podium.cfm?Pevent=434. A NY Times article points to Dr. Richard Berger out of Chicago, IL as the doctor who brought the defect to Zimmer’s attention. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/business/20knee.html. According to the article, Dr. Berger was a consultant for Zimmer and complained to them that one of the models was failing. Zimmer refused to comment on the issue. A number of other doctors have also had similar complaints with the Zimmer NexGen knee implant. If you or a loved one has questions about recent medical device recalls such as the Zimmer please visit the U.S. Food & Drug Administration website (http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/default.htm) to research recalled devices. If you or a loved one has a Zimmer NexGen knee replacement that causes pain and requires knee revision surgery or replacement knee surgery, contact us today.
We are experience personal i
njury lawyers. Our office is currently reviewing Zimmer Knee replacement cases. Contact us to review your case at no cost, or call us at 1-800-636-0808.
Zimmer Knee Replacements, Defects, Reacalls and Lawsuits