Articles Tagged with defective knee replacement

A total knee replacement has become one of the most common elective surgeries performed in the United States with over 300,000 operations performed each year. However, this popularity is in a large part driven by a group of medical device companies that are willing to rush their products to market even if they are defectively designed, insufficiently tested, and the companies to not adequately warn prospective patients of known dangers.  These three negligent acts are the basis for filing many products liability lawsuits in Boston for defective knee implant devices.

The reason they are so eager to get these artificial knee joints on the market is because this is big business.  There is a lot of money to be made from these artificial knee implants and the companies that make them are often far more concerned about making a profit then they are about making sure their patients have a safe and working knee. Continue reading

Not too long ago, when you thought of a total knee replacement, you probably associated it with a medical procedure for the elderly.  With total knee replacement surgery leading all other elective surgical procedures in the nation at around 600,000 performed each year, that is no longer the case. It is estimated that by the year 2030, there will be around 3 million of these operations performed each year in the U.S.  That is an astounding number compared to just two decades ago.

According to a recent news article from The Spokesman Review, a 40-year-old woman just had a total knee replacement, and she is a member of the fastest-growing demographic for those having a total knee replacement.  She is as far from the prototypical elderly patients of 20 years ago as you can get.  The main question is why did she have the procedure? Continue reading

For the past several years, we have been hearing more about stem cell research.  In some cases, we are talking about cloning entire animals or even people.  In other cases, there have been reports regarding stem cell cures for diseases we never thought possible.  There has also been a lot of debate about the ethics and morality involved in things like stem cell research involving cloning and how to deal with cells from certain types of tissue.

These conversations will likely continue long in the future, and many of the applications are more in the science fiction stage than anywhere close to real world use.  However, there is work being done today on a more modest scale that may bring actual relief to patients sooner rather than later.

Such treatments should be approached with skepticism, given reports of unscrupulous stem cell treatment and research centers that have left patients seriously and permanently injured. Continue reading

Total knee replacement is now one of the most common elective surgical procedures in the United States, with over 300,000 implants conducted each year.  With this rise in popularity comes a lot of advances in the manner in which surgeons perform the operations.

Some of these advancements include the use of robots to perform the surgery and the use of computer mapping scanners and software and even 3D printers to make the artificial knee implant.  We are also seeing a lot of different advances being made by the medical device manufacturers. Continue reading

The author of a recent editorial from the Boston Globe discussed how he was told that his insurance company would pay for a total knee replacement operation, but it would not pay for osteopathic muscle therapy. His editorial raised questions about the reasoning given for this, and it’s relevant to an increasing number of Americans.

It is helpful to first understand that total knee replacement operations and total hip replacement operations have become the most common surgical procedures being performed in the United States, with 300,000 and 600,000 operations being respectively performed each year.

The writer found a highly-trained therapist that specialized in providing alternative treatment to patients who were considering having a total knee replacement, but of course, the insurance company would not pay for it.  He argued that homeopathic and surgical treatments should work together and should not be mutually exclusive. Continue reading

It is a sad fact that many people in this county do not have health insurance.  While there are many different opinions about how to fix this issue, depending on one’s political party of choice, those without health insurance are facing real difficulties. While someone who is having a heart attack will get treated in an emergency, it will be very difficult for a patient with severe osteoarthritis to get a total knee replacement if they do not have health insurance.

The reason for this is because even though a total knee replacement has become the most common surgical procedure in the United States (around 600,00 each year), it is still considered an elective surgery, as opposed to an emergency surgery like the one a patient might need while they are having appendicitis. Continue reading

Total knee replacement is the most popular surgical procedure in the nation, with more than 600,000 total knee replacement procedures performed each year.

This popularity means that it is big business for hospitals, surgeons, and especially medical device manufacturers who manufacture the artificial knee implants.  What the general public may not know is that there is a lot of competition among the makers of these artificial joints before they make it into the hands of surgeons and eventually into the bodies of patients. Continue reading

A 101-year-old woman now holds the Guinness Book of World Records title for being the oldest person ever to receive a total knee replacement, according to a recent news article from the Preston Citizen. Although it’s probably not a title she would have wished to have, considering it all stemmed from a serious fall in which she broke her hip, the surgery marks a notable feat for the medical community.

Prior to the fall accident, the woman had been dealing with serious knee pain for many years.  Doctors felt there was no choice but to do a total hip replacement procedure if she was ever going to walk again, even with the assistance of a walker.  After the hip replacement surgery, she was able to move the hip joint again, but she was having a lot of difficulty healing.  The reason for this was due to her knee trouble.  With the knee also being very week and deteriorated, she was unable to walk normally, and this was causing her to not heal properly following the total hip replacement procedure. Continue reading

Knee replacement surgery has become the most common elective surgery performed in the U.S. on an annual basis.  There are an estimated 600,000 procedures performed each year.  While an orthopedic surgeon may perform multiple operations in a single day, when he or she finds out they need to have a total knee replacement procedure performed on them personally, it is a very new experience.

A recent news feature from Medscape involves a very experienced knee replacement surgeon discussing his own total knee replacement surgery and recovery.  This surgeon is 59-years-old and has been performing knee replacement operations for quite some time.  He estimates that he performed more than 3,500 total knee replacements over the course of his career.  It would seem that the procedure is entirely routine, but that is only the case when he is operating on other people. Continue reading