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[February 2002]
Zimmer Issues Update on Recalled Ceramic Femoral Heads
Zimmer Holdings Inc (Warsaw, IN, USA) says that - based on information provided between 16-24 January 2002 by Saint-Gobain - it is advising its customers to notify their patients of possible breakage of the femoral head components from one of Saint-Gobain's product batches. Saint-Gobain has advised Zimmer that this potential for breakage is due to their manufacturing process for that batch. Zimmer had voluntarily recalled the affected Saint-Gobain products in August 2001. A typical hip replacement involves a femoral stem, a femoral head mounted on top of the femoral stem and a cup, or socket, which is fitted into the patient's pelvis.
"While we are concerned by the information provided to us by Saint-Gobain and will deal with the business issues accordingly, our first obligation is to quickly bring this matter to the attention of surgeons and their patients," said Ray Elliott, the Chairman and CEO of Zimmer. "We are advising surgeons to follow their patients closely and make them aware of the potential for breakage of these femoral heads over time".
ENDS