New Delhi: A health ministry panel has recommended compensation with a base amount of Rs20 lakh each for patients who received hip implants from pharma giant Johnson and Johnson (J&J) seven years ago, which were faulty and had to be replaced with corrective surgery.
The hip replacement device called DePuy ASR was sold in India by DePuy International, a subsidiary of J&J. It was recalled in 2010, following global reports of metal poisoning and high failures.
“The committee recommends that the firm be made liable to pay adequate compensation commensurate with the loss of wages, severity of the pain, the resultant disability and sufferings (both mental and physical) of each of the patients who had received implant,” the committee report said. Mint has seen a copy of the report.
Currently, India has no specific legal provisions to pay compensation in such cases. The government set up the committee in February 2016 to investigate the case. The compensation figure was first reported by Mint on 20 November.
The report also recommended forming another central panel of experts and regional expert committees to study claims of disability and suffering caused due to the device.
The final compensation will be determined by the central expert committee, based on the base amount and the loss of wages.
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