What did Zimmer know?

What did Zimmer know? And when did they know it?

In July of 2008, Zimmer Holdings, Incorporated pulled the Durom Cup off the market.  

But when did they first realize that their so-called Durom Cup (also known as "Durom Acetabular Component" or "Metasul Durom") was failing and should be pulled from the market?


The so-called Durom Cup, an artificial metal hip socket, had been used in hip-replacement surgery for several years.  News reports show that a highly paid consultant for Zimmer, Dr. Lawrence Dorr first noticed serious problems with the artificial hip dating back to 2007. Dr. Door reported that his patients were experience excruciating pain months after surgery. These same reports state that Dr. Dorr notified Zimmer - but the Durom Cup remained on the market.

It appears that Dr. Dorr, unhappy with Zimmer's response, took matters into his own hands and began notifying other doctors of the problems. In fact, evidence suggests that he was forced to do so because Zimmer's position was that the product was not defective, that surgeons weren't putting them in incorrectly.

It wasn't until hundreds of patients suffered serious injury and, finally, in the fall of 2008 when Zimmer took serious action by setting aside nearly $50 million to deal with claims related to the failed Durom Cup. They didn't technically "pull the product" from the market, they "temporarily suspended the marketing and distribution" of it.

Here are some questions that need to be asked:

• When did Zimmer first know the Durom Cup was defective? 
• When did they take the product off the market? 
• Did they ignore the pleas of their own consultant doctor? 
• Were there other doctors who worked for Zimmer who knew about the defect? 
• How many people suffered from their delay? 
• How many millions of dollars of profit did Zimmer make off this defective product? 
• What steps can we take to prevent this from ever happening again?

These may be questions that we will never know the answers to...but consumer advocates need to pursue these questions, find answers and fight for justice.