J&J faulty hip implants case: 218 patients apply for compensation

Disability caused has been put in four slabs and compensation amount may vary from Rs 3 mn to over Rs 12 mn

The government has received compensation requests from 218 patients affected by Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J’s) faulty hip implants, an official has said. 

The government, hoping that the Supreme Court will get J&J to pay compensation to the patients, is evaluating how much each one should get, the official has added.  

The hip implants manufactured by J&J’s wholly-owned subsidiary DePuy International were found to be faulty, and several instances of revision surgeries were reported in India and across the globe.

An expert committee formed by the government had proposed that age and risk factor from the disability caused would be considered for compensation, over and above the base amount. 

The patients should also be given Rs 1 million for non-pecuniary damages. According to the government’s decision, the base will be multiplied by the score given for the risk and age factor, divided by 99.37, with Rs 1 million added to it. Disability caused has been put in four slabs and compensation amount may vary from Rs 3 million to over Rs 12 million.

The government is planning to file an affidavit with the Supreme Court to accept its compensation formula, which J&J has contested, claiming it was not consulted by the committee in determining the formula. 

A public interest litigation (PIL) in the same matter is pending before the Supreme Court (SC). The Delhi High Court on Wednesday took note of the government’s submission that the SC was already hearing a PIL concerning the same. The High Court said it would wait for the apex court’s decision before it hears J&J’s plea.

The J&J Medical India claims that it was not consulted throughout the process of determining the compensation formula, and that the company remains committed to providing assistance, including appropriate compensation under the law, to ASR hip implant patients in India who have undergone revision surgery.

The company, in its payment programme proposes to support patients who were implanted in India with its ASR hip implant between June 2004 and August 2010 and provide reimbursement, if the revision surgery and tests took place within 15 years from the date of the primary hip replacement surgery. Close to 4,700 surgeries using these implants were done in the country. Subsequently, these implants were withdrawn.

At first, the committee on the matter had recommended compensation to affected patients. The base compensation was recommended to be Rs 2 million, with an amount in excess to be based on the disability caused.

The government had written to DePuy Medical asking them to provide compensation till 2025. The committee that submitted its report to the health ministry had noted that the company had been negligent and, therefore, should compensate patients. This committee was set up in 2017 by the health ministry to review the matter. In February this year, the committee submitted its report. These complaints could be dated prior to 2010.