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Manufacturer warranties of joint replacement implants to patients may be future consideration
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I recently read with great interest a blog by Brian Hatten, MD, an orthopaedic surgeon, that appeared at Safe Patient Project.org, part of Consumer’s Union. His blog was about providing patients with manufacturer warranties of their joint replacement implants. It has me wondering if this approach by manufacturers could set a new standard among joint replacement manufacturers.
The question of whether joint implant manufacturers should provide a warranty to patients for their products is interesting and may be a major consideration for manufacturers in the future. Currently, Biomet offers a lifetime warranty on its partial knee replacement product for patients in the United States. Patient advocacy groups in the United States now push for similar warranties for other joint replacement products, too.
Patients may benefit
As I understand the situation, a product with such a warranty might influence an orthopaedic surgeon to select it over another option, with all other factors being about the same. A warranty may be of interest to our patients, as well. However, we should be particularly cautious in this area because the warranty a manufacturer offers on a prosthesis is also a marketing tool. My concerns about product warranties are several, and I am interested to hear your thoughts.
If we look at the current warranty given by Biomet, according to Hatten’s blog, it seems to cover an Oxford partial knee replacement that needs to be revised. Biomet will, at no cost, provide the components for the revision, whether this revision is to change the components for another partial knee replacement or if it is a revision to a total knee replacement. According to Hatten, the warranty is applicable no matter the reason for the revision, except if the products were past their expiration date at the time of implantation.
On the positive side, depending on the extent of the warranty, if it is set up to possibly compensate both the hospital and the patient in the event of a failure of the hardware, this would be of great interest for all parties.
A future option?
It is hard to believe a company will supply a new implant for free if the component has failed in the primary joint replacement because of infection, trauma, traumatic loosening or loosening due to poor implant positioning during the original surgery.
The bottom line for me is, if the implant is a real “high survivor” and a manufacturer desires to offer a full warranty for its product, including compensating the patient for his or her disability, then this will surely would be a game winner. It would put a great deal of pressure on other manufacturers to follow suit.
My outstanding questions are whether warranties for orthopaedic joint replacement components will become more popular in the future. If they do take off, will the process and the way patients are compensated for a revision be uncomplicated? I am a bit skeptical right now. Therefore, I await other developments in this important area.
- References:
- http://safepatientproject.org/posts/4984-guest-post-does-your-joint-replacement-have-a-warranty-by-brian-hatten-m-d
- http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2014/01/joint-replacement-warranty.html
- For more information:
- Per Kjaersgaard-Andersen, MD, is Chief Medical Editor of Orthopaedics Today Europe. He can be reached at Orthopaedics Today Europe, 6900 Grove Road, Thorofare, NJ 08086, USA; email: orthopaedics@healio.com.
Disclosure: Kjaersgaard-Andersen has no relevant financial disclosures.