Hips: Smith & Nephew issues failure warning on Birmingham metal-on-metal hips (MassDevice)
The metal-on-metal hip implant failure controversy finally claims Smith & Nephew, maker of the first MoM hip to hit the market.
Smith & Nephew issued an "Urgent Field Safety Notice" for its Birmingham Hip Modular Head implants, part of the suite of devices that pioneered the metal-on-metal hip field when they 1st hit the market in 1997.
The orthopedic giant warned the Hong Kong department of health that new data on the implants, gathered since 2010, suggests a 1.29% failure rate based on the National Joint Registry of England and Wales and a 1.12% failure rate based on the Australian Orthopaedic Association's National Joint Replacement Registry.
On their own the rates exceed the 1% benchmark established by the U.K.'s National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Prior to 2010 registry data showed a 1% revision rate for the devices, according to the company.
"Smith & Nephew’s highest priority is to deliver safe and effective medical technology to benefit patients," Smith & Nephew spokesman Joe Metzger told MassDevice.comtoday. "As such, we have notified customers a...
