Wright Medical Hip Implants

Wright Medical Group, Inc.™ is headquartered in Arlington, Tennessee and has been designing, manufacturing and marketing joint implants since 1950. While it is also known for its foot and ankle devices, the core of the Wright Medical™ product lineup has always been related to hips and knees.

Wright has experienced success with its ceramic-on-ceramic products, though the same cannot be said for its metal-on-metal product designs. On September 20, 2004, Wright Medical Group, Inc.

™ voluntarily recalled its CONSERVE® hip system, as it proved to be prone to shedding metal particles into surrounding tissue and blood, leading to high levels of metal toxicity. This may lead to metal poisoning, tissue necrosis, loosening of the device and other serious problems.

Wright Medical’s CONSERVE® hip replacement line was created to respond to the demand for durable implants for younger, more active people. One of the greatest concerns that doctors face when younger patients develop hip problems is finding an implant that can withstand an active lifestyle.

The CONSERVE® metal-on-metal brand promised to provide an excellent range of motion with low particle wear and long-term dependability. Tests prove that CONSERVE® cannot deliver on this promise as it has demonstrated higher than normal failure rates.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has received reports of more than 200 adverse events of device failures, severe pain in the hip and groin, loosening and high metal toxicity in the blood.

The FDA warns that metal-on-metal hip devices light Wright’s CONSERVE® hip replacement systems can cause the following adverse effects:

• Pain in the groin or hip
• Limp or decrease the inability to walk
• Swelling in or near the hip joint

In addition, metal-on-metal implants are known to cause metallosis. This is a condition caused by an excessive amount of metal particles in the blood.

The FDA warns that metallosis can cause problems involving other parts of the body such as the heart, nerves, thyroid, and kidney, including:

• Chest pain, shortness of breath
• Changes in vision or hearing
• Feeling cold
• Urinary trouble
• Numbness
• Fatigue
• Weight gain

Patients with the Wright Medical™ CONSERVE® hip implant are facing an uncertain future. These implants were designed to last for over a decade, but many patients are having serious medical complications only 3 years after the hip replacement surgery.

To date, there have been hundreds of adverse event reports submitted to the FDA reporting problems with Wright metal-on-metal hip implants.

Designers, manufacturers, distributors, and resellers of products and goods must be held accountable for the damage a defective product can cause to you, a family member or a loved one. These are complicated cases and require the experienced representation of the attorneys at Graves McLain Injury Lawyers.