Patients who need joint replacements have had referrals to a privately-owned Hertfordshire clinic postponed while the NHS addresses managerial concerns.

BBC: Lister Surgicentre

The East and North Hertfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) said it had dropped referrals of joint replacements, which were the "most complex surgical treatments" handled at the centre.

BBC: Lister Surgicentre

"With so many people getting joint replacements, even at younger ages, they may not realize when they walk in that hospital door that this can happen to them, " Ms. Bartel says.

WSJ: Steps for Surgical Patients to Fight Infection

The polymers can be used in just about any form of product from hydrogels and solutions to coatings for things like hospital equipment and even replacement joints (infections from contaminated hip, knee, and other joint replacements have been on the rise recently).

FORBES: How IBM Plans To Kill the Staph Superbug

Conventional wisdom holds that the pounding from years of running leads to excessive wear and tear on the body as we age, resulting in joint injuries, knee replacements or arthritis.

CNN: No need to hang up your running shoes as you age

Last year, British experts at the world's biggest artificial joint registry said doctors should stop using metal-on-metal hip replacements after a study found that, after five years, about 6 percent of people who had used them needed surgery to fix or replace them.

NPR: Trial Under Way In LA Hip Joint Replacement Suit