Nearly 50,000 people with all-metal hip replacements are to be called in for annual blood checks because of fears that metal particles shearing off the joint could cause them harm. The Medicines and Healthcare Regulatory Authority (MHRA) issued new guidance hours before the British Medical Journal (BMJ) was due to publish an investigation into the implants, linked to a Newsnight programme in the evening. The BMJ and Newsnight allege that hundreds of thousands of people around the world have been exposed to dangerously high levels of toxic metals in their bodies as a result of the introduction of metal-on-metal implants. One type, the DePuy ASR, was banned by the MHRA after it became clear that it caused problems and needed replacing much sooner than others. But critics argue that the regulators have been slow to act against other metal-on-metal implants which shed metal particles into surrounding tissue. There have been a small number of cases where, it is claimed, toxic chromium and cobalt ions have leaked into the lymph nodes, liver and kidneys before leaving the body as urine.
