Defective medical implants
Despite the stringent regulation imposed by the federal agencies, and internally by the manufacturers themselves, there’s always a margin for error in production and quality control. Even non-medical consumer products are scrutinized for manufacturer’s liability, but with medical implants and devices, the scrutiny for liability is brought to a new level of potential financial impact.
Modern medicinal technology allows people to live longer than ever which means that the number of implanted medical devices increases with each year.
The consequence of a faulty medical implant can range from mild discomfort to death, in case of life-sustaining devices such as pacemakers. However, it’s not enough to prove that the product was faulty. It also must be established that the medical device was less safe than the patient was entitled to assume, and it needs to be demonstrated that it caused injury, pain, and suffering. In the ever-evolving technological world of medical implants, proving such claims brings a unique set of challenges:
If devices newly arrive on the market, there’s not enough comparative data to arrive at certain conclusions. With some devices, the failure is difficult to prevent, despite all the reasonable measures taken. It’s extremely difficult to conclusively prove that the negative outcome would not have happened if a different medical implant or device had been used.
Most common cases involving medical implants and devices include the following procedures:
- Knee replacement
- Mismatched hip replacement
- Ceramic hip replacement
- Metal-on-metal hip replacement
- Metal on polyethylene hip replacement
- Ankle replacement
- Implantable heart valves
- Heart defibrillator claims
- Automated external defibrillators
- Transvaginal tape and surgical mesh
- Vena cava filters
- Mistakenly left surgical instruments
Usually, when a medical device is found to be faulty, it’s subjected to a recall, but this only applies to hospitals and doctors who are specialized in such surgeries, not the patients themselves. These recalls are usually conducted surreptitious, under the radar, leaving the patients oblivious to any potential problems, until the patients notice the problem, or until it’s too late. Even in the best-case scenario, when the patient is aware of the problem, another surgery would be required, which would present a new set of risks along with another long recovery period. This would then include loss of wages, pain, and suffering, and the cost of the corrective surgery itself.
According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), there have been hundreds of recalls for the past decade. With all those challenges, the recipient of the implant must also be vigilant when it comes to the statute of limitations. It’s, therefore, paramount that the patient notifies any complications or discomfort as soon as possible, and ideally seeks an opinion from a different doctor in a different clinic or hospital.
Given all the issues and costs involved with medical implants, it’s best to thoroughly research the exact model of the device you are to receive. Don’t just transfer this critical responsibility to your doctor as you never know where their financial interest may lie.
