J&J may have to pay up to Rs1.23 cr for defective hip implant

Compensation will be given to those who had received faulty `articular surface replacement’ (ASR) hip implants manufactured by Johnson & Johnson Pvt Ltd (DePuy International Limited, UK) prior to August 2010.

The ministry of health and family welfare on Thursday approved a formula proposed by an expert committee constituted for determination of compensation for those patients with defective implants.

The expert committee under the chairmanship of Arun Kumar Agarwal, Ex-Dean and Professor of ENT, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, submitted its final report on the ASR hip implants after detailed examination of the issue.

Under the proposed formula, those with 20 to 30 per cent disability will be given compensation varying from Rs55.08 lakh to Rs30 lakh for ages between 20 years and 65 years.

For those with 30 to 40 per cent disability the compensation will vary from Rs77.63 lakh for those in the 20-year bracket to Rs40 lakh for those in the 65-year group.

For disability of 40 to 50 per cent the compensation amount will vary from Rs1.007 crore for the 20 -year group to Rs50 lakh for those in the 65-year group.

For those with extreme disability (above 50 per cent) the compensation will vary from Rs1.23 crore for the 20-year group to Rs60 lakh for those in the 65-year group

Based on the recommendations, the government has constituted a Central Expert Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr RK Arya, director, Sports Injury Centre to determine the quantum of compensation. The ministry has also requested all state/UT governments to form state level committees to examine the effected patients within the respective states and to make the process less arduous for the patients. These committees would send their recommendations to the central committee.

State and UT governments have also been requested to make people aware through newspaper advertisements so that they may approach either the Central Expert Committee or State Level Committee.