In August 2010, Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, DePuy Orthopaedics issued a voluntary recall of two of their hip replacement devices, the ASR XL Acetabular System and the ASR Hip Resurfacing System. Sold since 2003, the devices were found to have an inherent design flaw that makes for quick deterioration. ASR components rub on each other causing metal flakes to scrape off and get deposited in surrounding tissue, bone and sinew. It took joint registries from other countries to find out this data resulting in the DePuy hip replacement recall.

Hundreds of thousand Americans undergo a hip replacement surgery each year. Not everyone is aware about the type of artificial hip they were implanted with or if it has failed without them knowing. So how does one know they have been implanted with a defective DePuy device even after the hip surgery?

There are recipients who have this notion that a hip replacement lawyer would give them this information. The facts that your lawyer can provide you would be the ASR implants that are part of the recall. They have no means to determine whether the one you have been implanted with belongs to the recalled DePuy devices.

The best person to contact would be your primary health physician, if not your orthopedic surgeon. If, by chance, you could not remember the name of your surgeon, your primary physician or the hospital where the hip replacement procedure took place would be able to provide you with the needed information. You can do this personally, or you can also submit an ROI or Release of Information.

Once you know for sure that you were implanted with a recalled ASR device, you might want to undergo a complete medical evaluate to assess the current state of your implant. These tests would reveal whether your hip prosthesis have deteriorated or if it has started leaking metal ions into your system. This data would serve as crucial evidence should you wish to pursue a lawsuit.

Before signing any documents provided by DePuy, you should seek the advice of a legal expert. If you want to learn more details about the case, you could visit the DePuy hip replacement site.