DEPUY SYNTHES WATCH

What should I watch out for?

DePuy Synthes Companies are part of the Johnson & Johnson family of companies. DePuy Synthes makes orthopaedic and neuro products and services for joint reconstruction, spine, trauma, neuro, cranio-maxillofacial, power tools and biomaterials. However, many patients have been devastatingly injured by the products of this company. These products include its hip implants, knee implants and elbow implants. Patients harmed by DePuy Synthes are suing the company, stating the products are defectively designed and put on the market knowing the products are dangerous.

Tell me about DePuy Synthes.

DePuy Synthes is a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson and one of the largest hip and knee implant manufacturers in the world. DePuy Synthes Companies makes orthopaedic and neuro products and services for the following:

Joint reconstruction for knees, hips and shoulders
Neurosurgery for the treatment of brain tumors, hydrocephalus and other neurological disorders requiring surgical intervention
Neurovascular solutions for the prevention of strokes, management of strokes and the treatment of cerebral arteriovenous malformations
Facial trauma, tumor resection and reconstruction
Sports medicine
Power tools for orthopaedics, traumatology, neurosurgery, neurotology, spinal procedures, otolaryngology and cranio-facial surgery
Spine care solutions including thoracolumbar, cervical, aging spine, interbody fusion and minimally invasive surgery
Orthopaedic trauma devices for internal and external fixation

DePuy Synthes was first started in 1895, when chemist and pharmaceutical salesman Revra DePuy manufactured fiber splints that could be customized to fit patients. The company was called DePuy Manufacturing Company at first and was located in Warsaw, Indiana. DePuy Manufacturing Company became the first orthopaedic manufacturing business in the world, and is why Warsaw, Indiana became known as the Orthopaedic Capital of the World.

Several mergers and acquisitions took place throughout the years. In 1998, Johnson & Johnson acquired DePuy. In 2012, Johnson & Johnson acquired global medical device company Synthes, Inc. and combined the companies together to create DePuy Synthes. The company became the world’s largest orthopaedic and neurological business.

DePuy Synthes is now operating in several countries, including the United Kingdom, Japan, France, Germany, Ireland and Australia.

The company develops and markets products under the following names:

Codman & Shurteff, Inc. – provides products for the surgical treatment of neurological and central nervous system disorders. Products include hydrocephalic shunt valve systems, implantable drug pumps and micro-surgical instruments.
DePuy Mitek, Inc. – offers devices in sports medicine for the treatment of soft tissue injuries.
DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. – designs, manufacturers, markets and distributes products for reconstructing damaged or diseased joints. Also makes products for repairing and reconstructing traumatic skeletal injuries.
DePuy Spine, Inc. – products help the fusion of the spine and correction of spinal deformities. These products help preserve the motion of the spine and repair bone fractures.

What are some of the products manufactured by DePuy Synthes?

DePuy Synthes Companies operates across sixty (60) countries and manufactures many different products. Some of the products manufactured by this company includes:

DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc.

DePuy ASR Acetabular & Resurfacing hip system
DePuy XL hip replacement system
DePuy Pinnacle hip system
DePuy AML hip system
DePuy Prodigy hip stem
DePuy S-Rom Modular hip system
DePuy Marathon Cemented Cup

DePuy Synthes

DePuy Aesculap Vega knee implant
DePuy Attune knee devices
DePuy Synthes Radial Head Prosthetic System elbow implant

The FDA has received many adverse event reports on the DePuy hips implants mentioned above. Some of the hip implants have been recalled and taken off the market, while other hip devices have been affected by limited recalls due to packaging or manufacturing errors.

The DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing System and the DePuy Orthopedic ASR XL Acetabular System were voluntarily recalled in 2010. Complications from these hip implants include metallosis (add in link to metallosis), earlier than normal hip failure rate, dislocation, bone fracture loosening of the implant, and revision surgeries.

The DePuy Aesclap Vega knee implant and the DePuy Attune knee device were designed to improve patient’s range of motion and give increased stability to earlier knee replacement devices. However, many reports were filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) noting an alarmingly high failure rates of the knee implants that resulted in destabilization of patients’ knee replacements and painful revision surgeries. The FDA recalled the Attune Tibial Articulation Surface knee in 2015 after learning that a small coil can become damaged and detached.

DePuy Synthes also made the Radial Head Prosthetic System. Similar to the knee implants, this elbow implant is also associated with a premature device failure rate, leading to revision surgery and other painful injuries. In 2016, the DePuy Synthes elbow device was recalled due to failure of the implant’s radial stem component, causing device loosening where the stem of the device connects to the patient’s bone.

Where is DePuy Synthes headquartered?

The headquarters of DePuy Synthes is in Raynham, Massachusetts, located at:

325 Paramount Drive

Raynham, Massachusetts 02767

Where does DePuy Synthes manufacture its products?

DePuy Synthes manufactures products across the world. There are (5) different manufacturing locations in the United States, listed below:

Craniomaxillofacial (CMF)

1302 Wrights Lane East

West Center, Pennsylvania 19380

Joint Reconstruction

700 Orthopaedic Drive

Warsaw, Indiana 46582

Mitek Sports Medicine, Neuroscience and Spine

325 Paramount Drive

Raynham, Massachusetts 02767

Power Tools

4500 Riverside Drive

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida 33410

Trauma and Vet

1301 Goshen Parkway

West Chester, Pennsylvania 19380

Who is in charge at DePuy Synthes?

Johnson & Johnson is the parent company of DePuy Synthes, and their executive committee and board of directors is in charge of DePuy Synthes.

The executive committee at Johnson & Johnson consists of:

Chairman, Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer- Alex Gorsky
Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee- Joaquin Duato
Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer- Peter Fasolo, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President, Worldwide Chairman, Medical Devices- Ashley McEvoy
Executive Vice President, Worldwide Chairman, Consumer- Jorge Mesquita
Group Worldwide Chair- Sandra E. Peterson
Executive Vice President, Global Corporate Affairs & Chief Communication Officer- Michael Sneed
Vice Chair of the Executive Committee and Chief Scientific Officer- Paul Stoffels, M.D.
Executive Vice President, Worldwide Chairman, Pharmaceuticals- Jennifer Taubert
Executive Vice President, General Counsel- Michael Ullmann
Executive Vice President and Chief Global Supply Officer- Kathy Wengel
Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer- Joseph J. Wolk

The Board of Directors at Johnson & Johnson is:

Alex Gorsky
Mary C. Beckerle
Scott Davis
Ian E. L. Davis
Jennifer A. Doudna
Mark B. McClellan
Anne M. Mulcahy
William D. Perez
Charles Prince
Eugene Washington
Ronald A. Williams

The Chief Financial Officer at DePuy Synthes is Michael M. Schulman.

How much in sales does DePuy Synthes make?

The company generates $10 billion in annual sales.

Has DePuy Synthes been in any litigations?

Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, DePuy Synthes, has faced many thousands of lawsuits over claims that its products are defective. Devices with pending lawsuits showing that the manufacturer knew about the defective problems but sold them anyway include:

Over 1,500 pending lawsuits with DePuy ASR Hip Resurfacing System and DePuy ASR XL Acetabular System
More than 9,000 pending lawsuits on DePuy Pinnacle Actabular hip system

Be on Watch.

DePuy Synthes Companies is a subsidiary of the Johnson & Johnson health care empire with $10 billion in sales every year. However, many of the products made are defective and lead to painful side effects and complications. These products include its hip implants, knee implants and elbow implants. Thousands of lawsuits have already been filed against DePuy Synthes by patients severely injured by its faulty devices.

If you or a loved one had a DePuy Synthes device implanted since 2000 and experienced side effects, you may qualify for financial compensation for medical expenses, medical treatment, loss of income, and injuries suffered.

Resources:

DePuy Synthes: https://www.depuysynthes.com/
DePuy Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DePuy

The Dangers of DePuy Synthes