A RETIRED civil servant who claims her life has been ruined after a replacement hip joint failed has set up a national support group for other sufferers.

Margaret Davie, 64, who lives near West Auckland, County Durham, says she has had a miserable time since she was fitted with a DePuy Corail Pinnacle hip joint at the University Hospital of Hartlepool in April 2008.

While DePuy does not accept liability for the failure of Pinnacle hip joints, the company announced a recall of an earlier form of metal hip joint, known as an ASR, last year.

This is because of concerns at the failure rate and growing suspicions that metal-onmetal hip joints can damage tissue and bone.

Mrs Davie says she was in such terrible pain from the first all-metal joint that she had it taken out and replaced with a totally ceramic joint, in July last year.

However, her pain levels did not improve and on Easter Monday she suffered a catastrophic dislocation at home.

“The pain was indescribable.

I was standing on one leg, unable to move,” she said.

The mother-of-one was taken by ambulance to the University Hospital of North Tees, in Stockton, where doctors put her dislocated hip back into place.

It is now kept in position by a brace and padding.

“I am really, really worried it will happen again,” she said.

Mrs Davie has instructed London law firm Leigh Day to file a claim against DuPuy and has founded a support group for Pinnacle patients.

More than anything, she says she wants to prevent other patients going through the same ordeal.

A spokeswoman for Leigh Day said they were representing 50 clients who had concerns after having Pinnacle hip replacements.

A much larger number of patients – more than 500 – has now asked Leigh Day to represent them because of concerns about their ASR hip joints.

This group includes more than 70 from the North-East, who say they have had problems after having an ASR hip joint fitted.

A spokeswoman for DePuy said the company has made detailed recall information available on depuy.com and has created a helpline – 0800- 279-4865 – for patients to have their questions asked and submit claim for “reasonable”

costs relating to the recall of ASR joints.

Earlier this month, the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust announced it was contacting 450 patients who have had metalon- metal hip replacements between 2003 and 2009 to check for problems.