The (Portland) Oregonian has done a nice review of the surge in the joint-replacement industry. That surge has been fueled by an aging population and heavy marketing by providers who see joint replacements as a bonanza.
Consider that “Knee replacements nearly doubled across the country between 2000 and 2010 to almost 720,000 operations, and hip replacements rose even more to 330,000 procedures, according to the latest statistics by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”