Govt makes report public on hip replacement systems by MNC

The government made public today an expert panel's report on alleged faulty hip replacement systems by a multinational company in India followings demands of the patients, who had suffered due to such operations, to release the report.

The Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) under the Health Ministry put up the report on its website which said pharma giant Johnson and Johnson "suppressed" facts on the harm caused by surgeries which were conducted on patients in India using "faulty" hip replacement systems.

A group of patients, who suffered due to alleged faulty hip replacement surgeries by a multinational firm, have written to Union Health Minister J P Nadda saying it is surprising that the media has been able to get the report yet the persons directly affected have kept in the dark.

"Indeed, we are unable to make sense of these claims and media reports being unaware of the contents of the expert committee report, which is still secret," they had said.

The report of the expert panel set up to investigate complaints about hip implant devices has suggested that the company pay compensation of around Rs 20 lakh to the affected patients.

The High powered committee to examine issues related to faulty ASR hip implants manufactured by DePuy International Limited (Subsidiary of J and J) was constituted by the Health ministry under the chairmanship of A K Aggarwal, former dean of the Maulana Azad Medical College.

The committee in its report said that it was of the view that the firm has been found to be evasive in providing the information desired by the committee regarding design of ASR, patient details, compensation details, adverse drug reaction reports etc.

"The firm also appears to be delayed in passing information and awareness about the failure of ASR," it said.

Nadda had yesterday said his ministry is holding deliberations on an expert panel's report and will take necessary steps.