Petition S&N on withdrawal of small sized BHRs

[Granton]

I received the following email from The McMinn Centre and they gave permission to post on here.
This is your opportunity to petition Smith and Nephew. As far as I can see the hyperlinks to the petition and S&N's Facebook page in the text should work.
David

_______________________________________

Dear David Vale,


As you will now know, on 4 June 2015 Smith & Nephew issued a media release about the global removal of the smaller sizes of components for the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing (BHR) procedure. The decision was based on statistics from the National Joint Registry (NJR) from all surgeons – experienced, inexperienced or trainees – who have carried out this procedure. The latter two groups have significantly lowered the average results, enabling Smith & Nephew to use this as a representation for all small size BHRs. The immediate result of this decision is that active women with hip problems now face the stark choice of years of pain or undergoing an unnecessary Total Hip Replacement.

While we totally support Smith & Nephew’s focus on patient welfare, we believe that rather than a global removal of the components, Smith & Nephew should instead only supply the smaller sizes of the device to experienced surgeons who do show good results in women in validated data.  Mr McMinn can provide such data showing the excellent results he has consistently achieved.
 
We are writing for your support and signature on our online petition, proposing Smith & Nephew PLC to reverse their decision to withdraw smaller sizes of the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing (BHR) for women. We’d also like you to post your views on the official Facebook page of Smith & Nephew to make them aware of how their decision may have affected you or your loved ones.
Some suggestions for your Facebook post to Smith & Nephew could be:
·         Your own personal experience of the benefits of the BHR carried out by a skilled and experienced surgeon (i.e. Mr McMinn) and how your operation has affected your life and activity level
·         The removal of the smaller BHR components condemns thousands of active women (and smaller men) to either a life of considerable pain or an unsuitable alternative operation for their age, condition and lifestyle
·         A link to the lecture given by Mr McMinn explaining why his results differ from the NJR results: http://www.mcminncentre.co.uk/research-lectures-women-resurfacing.html
·         Highlighting the discrimination issue against women while the procedure is still available to men
·         We all share Smith & Nephew’s concern for patient welfare and quality outcomes, but it is unreasonable to stop all surgeons performing the operation when some have achieved excellent results
·         A comment on how your life would have been affected if you had not been able to have the BHR or if you are a prospective patient – how the Smith & Nephew decision has affected you

Please post your views on the Smith & Nephew plc Facebook page as soon as you can and feel free to post on your own pages too to spread the word if you wish – we want your voices to be heard!
 
Thank you for your support.
Kind Regards,
The McMinn Centre Team

[blinky]

Thanks for posting this. I am on it.


I am a fit, active woman who had just decided to pull the trigger on hip resurfacing when the announcement came out. I read about other women like me, and smaller men, who had surgeries scheduled and now can't have them.

[DeviceGuy]

Blinky,
You CAN have a resurfacing if you are a good candidate!!!!
Research and contact Dr. Thomas Gross in So. Carolina.  I don't know where you are located but there are overseas options as well if you are not in the USA.
Don't give up.

[blinky]

Thanks. I have sent my materials to him for review. If I pass muster, that sounds like a great option for me. You may be reading my story in a few months. 


I will continue to monitor the petition, too, however. I can travel and have good financial resources, but not everyone can and does. There should be other options for women than a handful of surgeons who don't use the BHR device.