Defective hip socket withdrawn from market

Zimmer Holdings has suspended sales of an artificial hip component that has been failing at an unacceptable rate.  The device is a socket called the Durom cup.  12,000 of the devices have been implanted since 2006 and "hundreds" will require premature replacement according to doctors quoted by the New York Times.   The issue came to light this April when Dr. Lawrence Dorr, a surgeon in Los Angeles, publicly warned doctors and patients about the unacceptable risk of failure he had observed.  Zimmer denied there was a problem and still blames poor surgical technique.  Dorr responded "It is a bad design":  looks like whether they admit it or not, the manufacturer now agrees.  Thanks to Dorr's intestinal fortitude, many fewer patients will experience a failure of the hip and repeated surgery with all of the attendant risks.