As American’s life expectancies grow longer, more and more of our body parts are wearing out before we do. One of the first and most common to go are our joints, especially those located at our hips. Because of years of activity, these joints can become worn down as we age, and must be replaced medically. It’s become a very common procedure, and it’s likely that you or an older loved one has had a hip replaced. If so, read on please, because there is important information you need to know about hip replacement that have been recalled as faulty, made by the manufacturer Zimmer Durom.

There could be a large number of reasons that your loved one, or even yourself, needed to receive a hip replacement made by Zimmer Durom. The procedure, which is known as either hip arthroplasty, or hip replacement more commonly, involves removing the original hip joint and replacing it with an artificially manufactured one. This process is done for a number of reasons, including arthritis pain, located in the joint, the normal wear and tear on the joint because of age, and as part of the treatment for a hip fracture.

The modern hip replacement operation, using such mechanical parts as those manufactured by Zimmer Durom, has been taking place for almost 40 years. This is why it may seem so common place to you, and surprising that there are such issues with the procedure. It involves three pieces, designed to mimic the movements of a natural hip joint. They are the metal replacement for the femur bone, a part designed to mimic the hip joint itself, which can vary from implant to implant, and bone cement or screws to hold it in place.

For those who have had rip replacement, a large fear is needing the replacement replaced. It can cause serious complications in the ability to walk, and is a painful and long process. The Zimmer Durom was designed to avoid that, so that young hip replacement patients could have the one device for the rest of their lives. However, in one clinic, 12 percent of patients needed further replacement surgery in two years, which means the Zimmer Durom device does not work at all how it should. When this information was released, it caused an outcry among doctors.

Though Zimmer Durom has maintained that this high failure rate is caused by surgeon error, it pulled the replacement from the market in July 2008 after its own internal study found that 8 percent of the devices needed revision in two years. This has let many doctors and lawyers to believe the issue is with the replacement.

If you or a loved one received a Zimmer Durom hip replacement, something your doctor will know, you may have the right to join a class action law suit, even if your replacement has not yet failed.. Be wary of signing anything by Zimmer Durom, as that may be a release taking away this right.