Image via WikipediaTypical questions include:
QUESTION: SHOULD I RETURN TO MY PHYSICIAN WHO CONTACTED ME?
ANSWER: PERHAPS. IN MY EXPERIENCE, MOST DOCTORS HAVE BEEN VERY SUPPORTIVE OF THEIR PATIENTS. THEY ARE ORDERING XRAYS, MRIs, BLOOD TESTS, AND BONE DENSITY TESTS. THESE TESTS ARE IMPORTANT.
I HAVE RECEIVED SEVERAL REPORTS THAT A PHYSICIAN IN NORTHWEST ALABAMA HAS ONLY ORDERED XRAYS, TOLD ALL OF THE PATIENTS WHO CONTACTED ME THAT THEY WERE FINE, AND OPENLY STATED THAT THEIR PAIN ONSET OCCURRED WHEN THEY RECEIVED THE RECALL LETTER. THE WIFE OF ONE OF MY CLIENT'S REPORTEDLY QUIPPED TO THE DOCTOR THAT HE OBVIOUSLY HAD NOT LOOKED AT HER HUSBAND'S CHART IN IN THE TWO YEARS SINCE HIS SURGERY AND CERTAINLY HAD NOT LIVED WITH HIM OR HE WOULD KNOW OTHERWISE.
IF THIS IS YOUR PHYSICIAN, YOU PROBABLY KNOW IT. I WOULD NOT RETURN AND WOULD FIND A SURGEON WHO DOES HIP REVISION SURGERY TO EVALUATE YOUR HIP.
QUESTION: SHOULD I SIGN THE DOCUMENTS MY DOCTOR GAVE ME?
ANSWER: ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!! THERE ARE DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THIS DOCUMENT, BUT THEY ALLOW DEPUY TO OBTAIN YOUR MEDICAL RECORDS AND IN SOME CASES, OBTAIN YOUR DEFECTIVE DEVICE IF IT IS REMOVED. YOUR INFORMATION WILL ALSO BE PROVIDED TO DEPUY'S ADJUSTERS HANDLING THE CLAIMS.
QUESTION: DO I HAVE TO GO BACK TO MY DOCTOR FOR THIS TO BE COVERED?
ANSWER: NO: IN FACT, A CLASS ACTION HAS BEEN FILED AGAINST DEPUY CLAIMING THEY ARE MISLEADING CONSUMERS. IN THAT COMPLAINT, THEY ALLEGE:
"In our opinion, DePuy's 'offer' may deceive potential claimants into believing that the company has actually agreed to advance or reimburse their costs for medical monitoring or revision surgery. In fact, no specific offer to pay medical costs has been made and no specific plan for reimbursement has been announced. Moreover, DePuy has stated that before reimbursement of expenses will be provided, it will review the patient's medical records to determine if the patient meets DePuy's criteria for payment. According to DePuy, the medical records must confirm that the revision is related to the ASR recall and 'not some other type of cause, such as a traumatic fall.' Blaming the device failure on a fall, or another cause, such as physician error, patient misuse, pre-existing condition or underlying diseases is a standard litigation defense in these types of cases. Thus a patient who releases medical records to DePuy may do nothing but provide DePuy with a jump start on litigation defenses."
OPTING FOR FREE CARE FROM DEPUY MAY COST YOU IN THE FUTURE---IN PREVIOUS MEDICAL IMPLANT LITIGATION I HANDLED, PATIENTS WERE OFFERED FREE MEDICAL CARE. WHAT THEY WERE NOT TOLD WAS THAT THE MANUFACTURER PAID THE DOCTORS THE BILL RATE AS OPPOSED TO THE INSURANCE, MEDICARE OR MEDICAID REIMBURSEMENT RATE ,WHICH IS MUCH LOWER. WHEN IT CAME TIME TO SETTLE THEIR CLAIMS, THE MANUFACTURER DEMANDED CREDIT FROM THE SETTLEMENT FOR WHAT THEY PAID, WHICH WAS 3 OR 4 TIMES WHAT THE INSURANCE CARRIER WOULD HAVE PAID. THIS IS A NICE CARROT USED TO KEEP THE PHYSICIANS HAPPY AND IN THE BOAT.
QUESTION: WHAT ELSE DO I NEED TO KNOW?
ANSWER: FIRST, THERE IS OFTEN A VERY CLOSE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE MAKERS OF DEVICES AND THE PHYSICIAN WHO INSTALL THEM. TRIPS, SEMINARS, CATERED LUNCHES ARE NOT UNCOMMON. OFTEN THE PHYSICIAN AND THEIR ORTHOPEDIC REPS, AS THEY ARE CALLED, HAVE CLOSE PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS. THERE IS NO DOUBT DEPUY WILL SEEK TO EXPLOIT THIS RELATIONSHIP, IF IT CAN BE EXPLOITED, TO OBTAIN RELEASES AND MEDICAL RECORDS (TO PREPARE THEIR DEFENSE THAT THE FAILURE IS UNRELATED).
ON THE OTHER HAND, MANY PHYSICIAN ARE PATIENT ADVOCATES AND SOME HAVE EVEN ADVISED CLIENTS TO SEEK LEGAL REPRESENTATION.
CHRIS HELLUMS recently served as lead counsel in the Total Body Formula Multi District Litigation and is representing clients from across the country with Depuy claims.
For a free case evaluation, he can be reached at Chrish@PittmanDutton.com or toll free at 1-866.515-8880
