Medical Devices

The sale of medical devices has grown into an $85 billion-a-year industry. Products include surgical implants, prosthetics, artificial joints, pacemakers and hearing aids.

Medical device companies tend to be small or medium-sized businesses, but large pharmaceutical companies like Abbot Laboratories and Allergan also produce medical devices. Like drug companies, medical device companies also have a duty to properly market, design and manufacture their products.

More and more medical devices are leading to debilitating injuries. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), serious complications from medical device use have outpaced the industry’s growth by 8 percent a year since 2001.

The FDA found that between 2005 and 2009 only 20 out of 1189 products accounted for 65 percent of serious adverse events (e.g., death, disability, hospitalization) linked to device use. The agency’s data suggests that medical product recalls do not necessarily focus on these devices.

However, a recent recall by DePuy Orthopedics, a business unit of Johnson & Johnson, recently brought attention to problems with one device. It is estimated that 1 in 8 patients experience failure from recalled hip joints in just five years.

Hip joint replacement system failures can cause debilitating injuries that require more complicated surgeries. The devices can leave fragments that cause serious infections, nerve and blood vessel damage, and even death. Widespread injury has sparked mass tort litigation against artificial hip manufacturers which will continue for years.