Months have passed since the product recall was issued by DePuy Orthopaedics, a subsidiary of company giant Johnson & Johnson. Within this time frame, thousands have aired out their concerns regarding the defects of their hip implants, the ASR XL Acetabular System and the ASR Hip Resurfacing System, which both had a 13% failure rate. Typically, patients implanted with the faulty devices will experience pain, weakness and swelling in the hip region a few months or years after the hip replacement surgery, indicating that the implants have indeed failed in catastrophic ways one can never imagine. As a result, the recipients filed their own lawsuits against the company. Typically, surgeons do not play crucial roles in the legal complaints, but one doctor may be held liable for co-developing recalled DePuy hip implants.

Just recently, a recipient of a DePuy implant sued a California doctor—an orthopedist, to be specific—who co-produced the ASR devices. The plaintiff alleges Dr. Thomas Schmalzried has received a particularly large royalty amount from DePuy without disclosing his affiliation with the company. With this, one can suspect that Dr. Schmalzried may have something to do with the defects, or at least have some information, because he is also part of the brains of the whole invention. Being a co-developer of the defective implants, he is indeed well interested in the success of the products.

Victims of the DePuy hip recall may find it too difficult to trust their physicians now, which is perfectly understandable. However, it is also a dire need to see a physician, especially when a defective hip implant is causing a lot symptomatic troubles. The worst case scenario is the development of serious, irreversible damage, all because of the faulty prosthesis. If you are unsure of what to do, you might as well consult a hip recall lawyer to help you explore your legal options.