Events

Field Safety Notices about Various Sterile-Packaged Knee and Hip Implants

According to Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices of the Republic of Slovenia (via FOI), this field safety notices involved a device in Slovenia that was produced by Zimmer Biomet.

What is this?

Field safety notices are communications sent out by medical device manufacturers or their representatives in relation to actions that they may be taking in relation to their product that is on the market. These are mainly for health workers, but also for users. They can include recalls and alerts.

Learn more about the data here
  • Type of Event
    Field Safety Notice
  • Date
    2016-08-08
  • Event Country
    Slovenia
  • Event Source
    AMPMDRS
  • Notes / Alerts
    Data from Slovenia is current through February 2019. All of the data comes from the Agency for Medicinal Products and Medical Devices of the Republic of Slovenia (via FOI), except for the categories Manufacturer Parent Company and Product Classification.
    The Parent Company and the Product Classification were added by ICIJ.
    The parent company information is based on 2017 public records. The device classification information comes from FDA’s Product Classification by Review Panel, based on matches of recall data from the U.S. and Slovenia.
  • Extra notes in the data
  • Reason
    Zimmer biomet is initiating a recall of specific lots of foil pouched, sterile trabecular metal implants that were manufactured between april 2011 and october 2012. the foil pouches are part of a dual barrier system to provide sterile integrity. retrospective testing performed as a result of an internal review of the packaging system revealed that in some instances, tears/holes in some of the foil pouches were present in either the inner foil pouch or the outer foil pouch, but never both in the same sample. no product complaints have been reported for this issue. zimmer biomet tmt implemented a packaging change from the foil pouch sterile barrier system to a double sterile barrier thermoform cavity configuration by november 2012. the affected product was distributed between april 2011 and march 2016. below are examples of failures seen during this testing. .

Device

Various Sterile-Packaged Knee and Hip Implants

Manufacturer

Zimmer Biomet
  • Manufacturer Parent Company (2017)
    Zimmer Biomet Holdings
  • Manufacturer comment
    “The safety of patients has always been, and continues to be, Zimmer Biomet’s top priority and it is our honor to be a leader in this industry for the past 90 years,” Zimmer Biomet told ICIJ in a statement. “We adhere to strict regulatory standards, and work closely with the FDA and all applicable regulatory agencies in each of our regions as part of our commitment to operating a first-rate quality management system across our global manufacturing network. The company added that it is focused on staying at the forefront of innovation and doing right by the millions of patients who rely on the company’s products.
  • Source
    AMPMDRS