North woman sues over DePuy ASR hip op

Jun 12 2011 by Alastair Craig, Sunday Sun

A RETIRED ex-pat is leading a European legal battle against a medical giant over a string of problem hip replacement operations.

Diana Hedley was left seriously ill and in agony after a procedure two years ago on the Coast Blanca in southern Spain.

The 70-year-old, who moved from Tyneside 15 years ago for a life of charity work in the sun, went into theatre to cure an arthritic hip.

But she says the prosthetic joint left her on crutches and barely able to walk due to excruciating pain she describes as “a tooth hitting a nerve all day”.

The false hip product she received is known as the DePuy ASR system – now the subject of a worldwide recall.

The controversial replacement joints were manufactured by DePuy Orthopaedics, a medical arm of the international Johnson and Johnson empire.

Diana claims that a wearing action of metal on metal caused particles of cobalt and chrome to enter her bloodstream, risking damage to internal organs, and leaving her leg in constant agony.

The grandmum-of-eight said the manufacturer was already being sued internationally by hospital chiefs – and she now plans to lead a group action for damages, having instructed a lawyer, and has been contacted by several other patients.

Diana, who lives in the town of Torrevieja, but is originally from Fenham, Newcastle, had her first operation in April 2009.

She knew instantly something was wrong and after months of scans, blood tests and physiotherapy, in February this year specialists booked her in to theatre for urgent “revision surgery”.

Diana, who is married to Malcolm, 63, told the Sunday Sun: “This operation was meant to change my life but all it’s done is had a terrible impact.

“I was told the ASR system was the ‘hip of the century’ because it was metal and would never need to be replaced. How wrong they were. It’s terrifying that metal from the hip was in my blood and potentially doing damage to my lungs, kidneys and heart.

“You know your own body and I knew something wasn’t right. The traumatic thing was not knowing what was wrong. Doctors took a long time to diagnose the problem.”