As originally asked by Wesley Thomas.

What do you think of Johnson & Johnson’s decision to completely phase out their metal hip implants?

Olaotan E.
Mechanical Engineer at Intel Corporation
Honestly? Thalidomide is back? I agree that metal hips will not soon be laid to rest. Ceramics were a good alternative and bone does integrate well with ceramics, however ceramics lack the tensile strength that metals offer.

I believe that there is a way to prevent metal on metal contact. We are at a point in the industry where the new biomaterials have to resemble that which they are replacing to a greater degree.

DR. MICHAEL WARD
Global Director, Clin/RA/Pre-Clin, at MicroPort NeuroTech (Shanghai)
One can make a case for ceramics. There were some fairly successful ceramic hip replacements and MOM came in with all the accolades and swept away the older designs.

Remember thalidomide? A drug that was once taken off the market, for justifiable reasons, has made a comeback with other indications and more stringent controls over usage. So, we should not write off hip implants with metal just yet. it’s up to the creative element of the orthopedic industry to figure out a way to prevent metal on metal contact. I am not suggesting there is a way. I am merely suggesting it may be premature to nail the coffin shut.

Joshua Patton, MBA
E-Commerce and Digital Marketing Management
I am a bit surprised but after reading up on this I can understand, it seems like it’s not worth the risk of bad PR although if the issue was this severe you would think they would have a recall. I have read some pretty promising 3D printing technology for this, hopefully we will see a surge in that industry, I love me some 3D printing.

Olaotan E.
Mechanical Engineer at Intel Corporation
I think this is fantastic! I have been an advocate of non metal hip replacements and non metal implants for a very long time. Looking at implants retrieved from patients post mortem, you start to see that “inert” is really a relative term.

As long as an electrochemical gradient of any sort exists between the metal and the body, it can be degraded. I am interested to see what the next choice for orthopedic biomaterials will be.