Metal Hip Replacements: Toxic Effects? - FDA Asks

Can metal-on-metal hip replacements make people sick by releasing metal ions into the bloodstream? The FDA wants to know -- and is ordering the 21 makers of these devices to come up with answers. "The FDA is aware of public health questions regarding the safety of metal-on-metal (MoM) total hip replacement (THR) systems," FDA public information officer Amanda Sena tells WebMD in an email exchange. The most disturbing of these questions concern reports of "a small number of patients who may have developed symptoms or illnesses elsewhere in the body (systemic effects), including effects on heart, nervous system, and thyroid gland," according to Sena.

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