Woman seeks justice from manufacturer
By Janet Boyle for the Sunday Post jobyle@sundaypost.com
1 woman who says she was crippled by a toxic metal hir replacement has spoken of her years-long battle for justice.
Lilias Waiters, 71, from Edinburgh, ›elieves she became ill after getting ip joint which contained cobalt and chromium metals.
Within a few years of the operation. she began to feel desperately ill and in pain and blood tests showed the level of the metals in her blood were alarmingly high.
The metal seriously destroyed muscles and bone around the replacement prosthetic hip to deteriorate and it dislocated,” she said “The hip had to be removed and replaced and now two years on walking is still painful. Blood test showed 1 had worryingly high levels of chromium and cobalt which are gradually coming down after the toxic metal hip was taken out.”
It was in situ for 11 years and Lilias says that the surgeon who replaced it in 2023 remarked that the metals would leech after two.
Chromium causes liver, heart, kidney and gastric damage in patients.
Cobalt can cause heart, sight, hear-ing, nerve and thyroid damage and skin rashes. She reports having suffered hearing loss, skin rashes and pseudo tumours on her thigh.
She spoke out as the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued an alert on one type of cobalt-containing replacement hip – the Profemur – because the metal wears and corrodes.
Around 2,000 patients will now undergo checks after hospitals have identified those at risk.
Lilias Watters said she got a hip replacement made by Stryker devices, at the Golden Jubilee Hospital in Clydebank. She says doctors informed her that it may take 10 years for the high levels of both metals to fall to safe levels. “Talways have to push for blood tests because there is no pathway of care for patients like me, she said. “That is wrong considering that metal leeching has been reported in medical journals.”
Her failed hip was only diagnosed when she called the Golden Jubilee hospital for help, she added.
“My hip had previously dislocated and doctors put it down to a freak accident, but the pain continued so I called the hospital. Lumps had appeared on my thigh near the hip and a Golden Jubilee nurse urged me to get an X-ray immediately.
“That prompted a return to hospital where an MRI showed pseudo tumours in my leg. Surgery to remove the metal hip followed shortly and replaced with a new device.” She added that she has been exhausted by seeking diagnosis and treatment.
UK patients have founded a sup port group of patients with failed replacement hips, headed by patient Tracey O’Neill, 57, from Coventry She says she has spent years struggling with memory loss and paying to see private cardiologists because of side effects linked to cobalt poisoning from a prosthetic hip.
“I have been contacted by many people who have hips containing cobalt where there is potential wear and debris,” she said.
“From March this year the MHRA focused on one type and I am still waiting for a response regarding other types of implants which I understand they are looking into.”
Research by Strathclyde University scientists has shown cobalt, even at low levels, can reduce heart contraction, making it less efficient at pumping blood around the body.
Lilias Watters’ case mirrors a patient with a similar hip which dislocated, and cobalt and chromium levels found in his body.
It was reported in joint replacement medical journal Arthroplasty Today in 2021. The report says: “Concerns have been raised about increased risk of fretting with the use of high offset cobalt chromium femoral heads.”
A report by Stryker on her taulty hip suggested it had failed because of patient lifestyle and surgical tech-niques. “I weigh nine stones and I’m hardly cycling hundreds of miles or pounding away on the pavements ar 71,” she said. “So I cannot understand why they suggest an unreasonable lifestyle and method or poor surgery.
Manufacturer Stryker said: “People are at the centre of everything we do, and we are committed to work ing with healthcare professionals to improve the lives of their patients. However we do not comment on individual patient matters.”
Have you had a cobalt and or chromium hip replacement which has affected your health? Have you been contacted by your hospital or had it previously replaced because of complications?
Let us know. Contact jboyle@sundaypost.com
