Zimmer Knee Complications Could Be Due to Lack of Testing

The consumer publication Consumer Reports has recently published a report detailing the complications and possible causes behind the complications associated with a number of hip and knee implant systems, including the NexGen knee replacement system. A number of lawsuits have been filed by patients who are looking to win a settlement from the manufacturers of the device for the complications they experienced after using the NexGen knee replacement system. These cases may be bolstered by the reports published by Consumer Reports.

Serious Zimmer knee complications

A number of patients have experienced serious Zimmer knee complications after being implanted with a knee replacement device, some even leading to the need for Zimmer knee replacement revision surgery. The report published in Consumer Reports outlines the expedited approval process that the Food and Drug Administration allows some devices to go through if a similar device has already been approved and put on the market, and the argument was that this approval process was not enough to ensure that patients were kept safe from potentially dangerous and damaging knee replacement systems.

The article notes that although most prescription drugs are tested thoroughly before they are released onto the market, orthopedics devices are different in that they can be fast tracked through the Food and Drug Administration’s usually rigorous approval process. The company had no separate test data on the implant devices when some patients began to experience serious complications after being implanted with the devices, because the FDA had not required them to test the devices before being approved.

Zimmer knee problems need registry, some say

Some patients and medical experts are claiming that a national joint registry would help to alleviate some of the problems associated with the knee replacement systems, as they could help keep track of complications associated with the popular knee replacement device.

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