Pic: Wikimedia Commons
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare approved the formula for compensation to patients, who received faulty hip implants from Johnson and Johnson. The victims will receive a compensation of Rs 30 lakh to Rs 1.22 crore, depending on their age and extent of disability. The compensation is based on the recommendations of the expert committee under the chairmanship of Dr Arun Kumar Agarwal, former dean, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi.
The compensation is for patients who underwent hip replacement surgery and got faulty Articular Surface Replacement (ASR) hip implants manufactured by M/s. DePuy International Limited, U.K (M/S Johnson & Johnson Pvt Ltd).
Early this week, the Supreme Court takes up a PIL that sought investigations into these faulty hip implants and demanded compensation for victims. SC also asked the government to submit a report.
The government constituted a central expert committee under the chairmanship of Dr R K Arya, director, Sports Injury Centre to decide the amount of compensation. State governments were also asked to form state-level committees to investigate the individual cases of the affected people. These committees have been asked to send their recommendations to the central committee.
The state governments have also been asked to drive awareness campaigns to reach out to affected patients in all the parts of the country. The formula finalised by Dr Arya has Rs 20 lakh as the base amount, multiplied by the age and disability factors and then Rs 10 lakh is added to the product to reach the final amount of compensation.
These faulty implants were used for several years before the company was asked to stop their import in 2012. The faulty metal on metal implants released higher levels of cobalt and chromium in the blood leading to toxicity. The metal also reportedly damaged tissues and organs in some patients. In some patients, it caused severe infections and these patients suffered from intense pain and disability due to the implants.