Hip Replacement Recipients Encouraged to Obtain Their Medical Records

Since DePuy Orthopaedics recalled its ASR hip replacement devices back in August 2010, many people have been wondering whether or not their hip replacement procedures were performed using one of these devices. The only way to be completely sure is to contact the surgeon who performed the procedure to determine the risk factor of the device failing.

Many patients are learning that access to medical records can prove problematic. In the United States, patients are entitled to view almost anything in their records, with very few exceptions. None of these exceptions is relevant to records of a hip replacement surgery. Most requests for access can be honored during an informal doctor/patient consultation, or by requesting to pick up the records from the physician’s office. In some cases, however, gaining access is proving difficult. If patients meet with difficulty obtaining records from their physicians or their staffs, steps can be taken to obtain the pertinent details. Very often, a request in writing may be required, in addition to nominal costs for copying records and the required postage needed to deliver them to a patient. If a request goes unanswered, patients are advised to contact the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to file a complaint. A patient should also make inquiries to any state-level agencies that could prove helpful in these circumstances. Filing a complaint could result in the physician getting reprimanded and ordered to turn over the records per the patient’s request.

The Rottenstein Law Group has highly skilled hip replacement lawyers advocating for patients affected by the DePuy hip recall. An integral part of the process is having access to medical records that prove patients were harmed by negligence on the part of DePuy Orthopaedics and its parent company, Johnson and Johnson. Patients are advised to be persistent, yet calm, in their efforts to obtain their medical records. Victims are also advised to consult the Web site the Rottenstein Law Group has established to keep patients updated on the latest news about the DePuy hip recall lawsuit.

Why DePuy Lawsuits are Better Than the Reimbursement Process

DePuy Orthopaedics’ line of hip implants, their ASR devices, has a failure rate of 12-13%. The fact that thousands of Americans have felt the complications of flawed implants makes this figure correct in entirety. So what exact measures did DePuy undertake to address this concern? A few months ago, they drafted the procedures of their reimbursement plan. The affected recipients at least felt relieved that the company was taking responsibility.

Or so they thought. What they did not know is that DePuy carefully outlined their reimbursement to their advantage. They claim that they will reimburse you for ‘reasonable and customary’ expenses that you paid for the revision surgery, including the indicated tests. Aside from these, they also promise to reimburse you for travel expenses and lost time for work. However, the real catch remains unseen for most the recipients. DePuy will not reimburse any of their clients with hip implants revised seven years after the first hip replacement surgery, nor to those who underwent clinical tests five years after the company issued a recall on the ASR devices. This is downright unfair. Why settle for such absurdity?

Nevertheless, filing a lawsuit can be more advantageous for you. Why accept DePuy’s obscure reimbursement process when you can benefit more in pressing charges against the company? DePuy can only reimburse you with the least amount that they can give, obviously to preserve their assets without making it look like they are circumventing the whole process. In filing a lawsuit in light of the DePuy hip recall, however, you can actually gain more than what you can get from the so-called reimbursement.

Apart from the compensation for pain and suffering that you can receive in filing a lawsuit, your rights--as a person and as a patient--are ultimately protected. This is one genuine attribute in filing a lawsuit against DePuy, because you are able to seek for justice, one which the company cannot obviously give.