Concerns Over ‘Metal on Metal’ Hip Implants

via Concerns Over ‘Metal on Metal’ Hip Implants – NYTimes.com.

Matthew Holst for The New York Times

By BARRY MEIER

Published: March 3, 2010

Some of the nation’s leading orthopedic surgeons have reduced or stopped use of a popular category of artificial hips amid concerns that the devices are causing severe tissue and bone damage in some patients, often requiring replacement surgery within a year or two.

In recent years, such devices, known as “metal on metal” implants, have been used in about one-third of the approximately 250,000 hip replacements performed annually in this country. They are used in conventional hip replacements and in a popular alternative procedure known as resurfacing.

via Concerns Over ‘Metal on Metal’ Hip Implants – NYTimes.com.

Health System Bears Cost of Implants With No Warranties

via News Analysis – Makers of Artificial Joints Rarely Offer Warranties – NYTimes.com.

By BARRY MEIER

Published: April 2, 2010

In January, William R. Morris’s artificial hip, just three years old, was failing so badly that it had to be replaced during an extensive procedure that cost about $50,000.

Joshua Borough for The New York Times

William R. Morris had his three-year-old artificial hip replaced in January because it was failing. It was his third hip replacement since 2006.

The maker of the failed hip has since sent letters to Mr. Morris’s doctor, but none offering to cover replacement expenses for the device, which typically is expected to last 15 years.

via News Analysis – Makers of Artificial Joints Rarely Offer Warranties – NYTimes.com.

ScienceDaily Dec. 29, 2009 — The sight of a cockroach scurrying for cover may be nauseating, but the insect is also a biological and engineering marvel, and is providing researchers at Oregon State University with what they call “bioinspiration” in a quest to build the world’s first legged robot that is capable of running effortlessly over rough terrain.

Read more ….  Cockroaches offer inspiration for running robots.

Shared by Mr. Giancarlo DiMeo

With Warning, a Hip Device Is Withdrawn

By BARRY MEIERPublished: March 9, 2010

A unit of Johnson & Johnson, just months after saying it was phasing out an artificial hip implant because of slowing sales, has warned doctors that the device appears to have a high early failure rate in some patients.

via Maker Drops Hip Device, Then Warns of Failures – NYTimes.com.