SC seeks Centre's reply on faulty hip implants involving Johnson and Johnson

The Supreme Court on Monday granted one week's time to the Centre's expert panel to file its reply with regards to a case involving faulty hip implants supplied by the multi-national company Johnson and Johnson to more than 14,000 patients.

A bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi and comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and K M Joseph granted one week's time to the expert panel of the Central government to file its reply.

Arun Goenka had filed a petition before the Court after his wheel-chair bound mother Poorna Devi, who was in her late eighties, died in March this year after the hip implant in her case allegedly failed.

Goenka, in his petition, claimed that over 14,000 people were fitted with faulty hip implants. The petitioner also claimed that US-based pharma major Johnson and Johnson is responsible for the "faulty" hip replacement surgery into the bodies of more than 14,000 Indian patients.

The petition also sought a direction from the apex court to the Centre and the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation for taking necessary steps to save the lives of those who have undergone the "faulty" hip replacement surgery.