As the years go on, advances in technology provide opportunities to better the lives of some people by using specially designed medical devices. However, there are many cases each year in which defective medical devices have only caused more pain, or worse.
Sometimes, in order to cut costs and maximize profits, manufacturers will neglect to do proper testing or will use inferior materials. These acts of negligence can lead to terrible injury. Here are some of the defective medical devices causing injuries today.
- DePuy Orthopedics Devices hip replacements. Since 2010, these hip replacements have been recalled and targeted by multiple lawsuits for various injuries.
- Zimmer Holdings Inc. Devices knee and hip replacements. Zimmer halted production on hip replacements, many of which only last a couple years before needing replacement. Their knee replacements reportedly fail prematurely as well, causing pain and requiring surgery in almost one in 10 patients.
- Mirena IUD. Women looking for long-term birth control often choose Mirena for its convenience, but many have come to regret the decision after the IUD perforated the uterine wall and migrated to other parts of the body, causing intense pain.
- R. Bard and Cook Medical IVC Filters. These small metal cages are supposed to stop blood clots before they get to a patient’s lungs, which would cause pulmonary embolism, but the FDA has received nearly 1,000 reports of the device perforating organs and migrating through the body, leading to serious issues.
- Transvaginal Mesh. The FDA has ordered 33 different manufacturers to run safety tests on their product after more than 73,000 lawsuits have been filed against them by women claiming to have been injured and that the various companies worked to hide the risks involved.
- Power Morcellators. These devices are used to perform complex surgeries involving removal of large pieces of tissue and expelling them through a small incision. Normally, this greatly reduces healing time in patients, but sometimes it has been reported to spread cancer leading to multiple deaths.
- INFUSE Bone Graft. These spinal fusions are designed to help with degenerative bone diseases such as arthritis. However, the manufacturing company has been ordered to pay over $40 million so far in damages after it was discovered that they covered up the risks of severe back pain, leg pain, breathing troubles, and implant failure.