J&J Faulty Hip Implants: Health Ministry Approves Compensation Formula

The Health Ministry approved the formula for determination of compensation for patients who prior to August 2010, had received faulty articular surface replacement hip implants manufactured by Johnson & Johnson.

The government had constituted a central expert committee under the chairmanship of Dr. R K Arya, director, Sports Injury Centre, to determine the quantum of compensation.

The central expert committee, after holding five meetings, prepared a formula for determining compensation for the ASR victim patients, which has been approved by the ministry.

"Compensation will be paid in a time bound manner through bank accounts of affected persons by M/S Johnson & Johnson Pvt. Ltd.," a statement from the ministry stated.

The compensation payable to patients will be determined in terms of the disability caused by the faulty hip implants in relation to their age, it said.

According to the statement, those between 20 to 35 years would get compensation between:

• Rs 58.08 lakh and Rs 49.66 lakh for 20 to 30 percent disability
• Rs 77.63 lakh to Rs 69.41 lakh for 30 to 40 precent disability
• Rs 100.17 lakh to 89.32 lakh for 40 to 50 percent disability and
• Rs 122.71 lakh to Rs 109.15 lakh over 60 precent disability

Those between 35 to 60 will get a compensation between:

• Rs 49.66 lakh and Rs 33.63 lakh for 30 percent disability
• Rs 69.49 lakh to Rs 44.45 lakh for 30 to 40 precent disability
• Rs 89.32 lakh to Rs 57.26 lakh for 40 to 50 percent disability and
• Rs 109.15 lakh to 69.08 lakh for over 60 precent disability

Those above 65 will get:

• Rs 30 lakh for 20 to 30 percent disability
• Rs 40 for 30 to 40 percent disability
• Rs 50 lakh for 40 to 50 percent disability and
• Rs 60 lakh for over 60 percent disability

Earlier, the ministry had asked states and union territories to form committees to examine cases of affected patients and to make the process less arduous for them.

These committees were directed to send their recommendations to the central expert committee.

The states and union territories had also been asked to make people aware through newspaper advertisements so that they could approach either the central committee or state-level committees.

In a report earlier, an expert panel had suggested that the firm pay compensation of around Rs 20 lakh to the affected patients.

The report was made public after patients demanded that it be put in the public domain.

The committee, in its report, stated that "the ASR hip implants manufactured by DePuy International Ltd were found to be faulty which resulted in higher instances of revision surgeries globally including India".

The report recommended DePuy International Ltd., a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson, be made liable to pay at least Rs 20 lakh to each affected patient, and the reimbursement for revision surgeries should continue until August 2025.