It might come as a surprise to some of you that the problems that caused the ASR hip replacement recall were revealed from sources not from the United States. These issues which involved the implants’ higher than standard failure rate was first pointed out by an Australian joint registry.

In the aftermath of DePuy Orthopaedics apparent neglect in recalling their hip replacement devices at the appropriate time, lawsuits were, and still are being filed by indignant victims. A recall done in August of the ASR XL Acetabular System and the ASR Hip Resurfacing System was a result of urging by concerned parties.

The charges thrown at the company is based on compelling proof. Hundreds of complaints against the DePuy hip implants were noted by the U.S Food and Drugs Administration as early as 2008. Significant failure rate that was noted by the director of the Australian National Joint Replacement Registry, Professor Stephen Graves, was disclosed to DePuy. In fact, Professor Graves and the Registry were alarmed enough to have warned the orthopedic manufacturer seven times. In December 2009, the ASR devices were recalled in Australia, almost a year before they withdrew the same hip replacement implants internationally.

Though DePuy holds blame, people believe that complaints like these would have been noted and given ample attention that would prompt an earlier product recall had a similar joint registry existed in the country.

The same thing would less likely happen again in the wake of the conception of the American Joint Replacement Registry by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons. Nationally, 15 hospitals have launched pilot programs in October. The program will closely keep an eye on individual artificial hips implanted by participating surgeons and hospitals. “The advantages of a registry are many. You can pool patients, provide contemporary information and do postmarket surveillance. It can lead to evidence-based practice, generate research questions and be, in and of itself, a research tool,” declares orthopedic surgeon Dr. William J. Maloney. In Sweden, Great Britain, Canada, and Australia, the need for a revision surgery was reduced dramatically to as high as 10 percent.

Substantial data disclosed by the National Joint Registry for England and Wales was what urged DePuy to issue a hip recall on their products worldwide. It is highly advantageous to start the AJRR because it could identify similar issues with hip implants from not on. One thing is certain still, DePuy’s oversight have made plenty of people suffer. A hip replacement lawyer can give you the huge possibility of claiming compensation from the company to somehow augment for what you’ve suffered.