Zimmer’s Durom cup pulled until company can train
July 30th, 2008 joshua
Zimmer Holdings has pulled its Durom cup for artificial hip implants until it can properly train surgeons on the proper implanting techniques.
The New York Times reports a growing number of physicians are receiving patients who’ve been implanted with the Durom cup and experiencing excruciating pain after their surgeries, a time which is supposed to be pain free.
One physician quoted in the Times article said she received no response from Zimmer after trying to relay her qualms with the Durom cup. She took the ultimate step of confronting a Zimmer engineer at a medical conference with her gripes over the cup.
Soon after that confrontation Zimmer pulled the device from the market. It said only a small percentage of the 13,000 patients implanted with the Durom cup have complained about such pain.
Doctors interviewed for the article believe that number could increase to the hundreds.
Another concern raised in the article is the fact doctors are not reporting problems with medical devices and therefore a public warning system on commonly occurring concerns with a specific device is next to impossible.
