A FURTHER case has emerged of a patient seeking compensation following a hip operation at a York clinic.

As The Press reported yesterday, a York solicitor’s firm has taken up the cases of 50 people, 35 of whom are from North Yorkshire, with 22 receiving surgery at Clifton Park clinic in the city.

Many claim they are suffering frequent dislocations or excruciating pain resulting from metal-on-metal debris getting into their bloodstream.

Pryers Solicitors in The Stonebow says all were fitted with products manufactured by US company DePuy Orthopedics Inc - the ASR Hip Resurfacing System and the ASR XL Acetabular System.

Both products were recalled last August by DePuy – the orthopedic arm of Johnson & Johnson – after being on the market for seven years.

Tom Smith, 65, from Boroughbridge, had ASR replacements in both hips at Clifton Park in 2007. The one in his right hip failed and he had to have it removed a few days before Christmas in 2009.

He said: “I spent six months in agony before it was acknowledged that it needed replacing.”

He said doctors tried to determine whether the problem was in the joint, his nervous system or the hip replacement itself. Eventually a scan showed that the replacement had come loose.

Mr Smith said it felt as though it had gone “wonky” and it limited his movement in the same way as a twisted ankle.

Although it has now been replaced and doctors say the replacement is working fine, Mr Smith said he can feel it’s “just not 100 per cent”.

Mr Smith has to walk with a stick in case the joint seizes up. He said: “I can’t walk for any real distance. I don’t need the stick to walk, but it seizes up every now and then, and I need to make sure I have some support for when it does.”

Mr Smith said he wanted compensation because of the inconvenience it had caused. Mr Smith’s name has been changed at his request to protect his identity.

Solicitor Richard Starkie, of Pryers, which specialises in medical injury compensation cases, said Mr Smith had a metal content – of chromium and cobalt used in the device – of 170 parts per billion, while a normal level would be up to seven.

DePuy statistics show about 12 per cent of patients who had received the ASR resurfacing device and 13 per cent fitted with the ASR total hip replacement needed to have revision surgery.

A DePuy spokeswoman said 9,600 ASR hips were fitted in the UK. The high failure rates were detected in the UK national joint registry, the surgeons’ five-year database. Problems listed included component loosening, misalignment, infection, bone fracture, metal sensitivity and pain.

“We therefore withdrew the two products immediately. We intend to give affected patients reasonable and customary costs of testing and treatment.”