Hip patients welcome new research findings (From York Press)

Hip patients welcome new research findings

7:52am Wednesday 4th April 2012 in Health & Wellbeing

PATIENTS have welcomed the publication of new research that reveals problems with hip replacements going back many years.

The Altogether Hip ASR support group, which meets in York, includes many members who are taking legal action for compensation for the pain and other health problems they say they have suffered because of their ASR metal-on-metal hip replacements.

Earlier this month, the British Hip Society called for a ban on all metal-on-metal implants following reports in the British Medical Journal that it had been known for decades that they can cause problems. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency MHRA disagreed, saying that they could be used provided patients had annual check-ups for life.

A week later, a study published in The Lancet said metal-on-metal total hip replacements had a much higher failure rate than other types of implants.

Ruth Smith, of Westow, near Malton, said she hoped the research would lead to more patients asking for checks and more hospitals initiating them.

“People should be now be much more aware and the hospitals should be much more aware of the possible consequences,” she said.

At least one patient said she didn’t know she had a problem until she received a letter from her hospital asking her to go into for a check-up. Ms Smith, who has had one of her hip replacements changed because of the problems it caused her said of the different types of implants: “If something is starting to show a problem, then it should be stopped automatically.”

Others called for better controls on the use of implants, saying that the British licensing system for hip replacements was not strict enough and didn’t take sufficiently into account problems reported in other countries.