Physician-initiated Alert Sparks Zimmer Investigation Of "Durom" Hip Failures

Zimmer is investigating failures of its Durom hip implants after a prominent joint reconstruction surgeon sent a letter reporting a series of problems with the device to the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons. [Preview]

This article preview is reprinted from "The Gray Sheet" - May 19, 2008

Zimmer is investigating failures of its Durom hip implants after a prominent joint reconstruction surgeon sent a letter reporting a series of problems with the device to the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons.

In the April 22 letter, Larry Dorr, director of the Dorr Institute for Arthritis Research and Education, notified his hip surgery colleagues that 10 of the 165 Durom hip systems implanted at his clinic had to be surgically revised within two years of implant and that four more revisions were scheduled.

"The company does not believe it should pull the cup [hip component] from the market, so I am notifying all of my colleagues of our failure rate with this cup," Dorr wrote.

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