J&J implants: Sena MPs write to J.P. Nadda

Less than 200 out of thousands of patients approached committee for compensation: Shrikant Shinde

January 09, 2019 12:42 am | Updated 12:42 am IST - Mumbai

Reaching out: Vijay Vojhala, a patient who was implanted in 2008, has paired up with others to form the Hip Implant Patients Support group.

Reaching out: Vijay Vojhala, a patient who was implanted in 2008, has paired up with others to form the Hip Implant Patients Support group.

Eleven Members of Parliament (MP), including seven Shiv Sena MPS from Maharashtra, and a Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) have jumped into the ongoing issue of faulty artificial hip joint of pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson. They have written to the Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J.P. Nadda demanding justice for all patients who have suffered and action against the company.

The metal-on-metal Articular Surface Replacement (ASR) hip implant manufactured by J&J’s subsidiary DePuy Orthopaedics was recalled worldwide in 2010 after reports of it leaching metals and thus causing severe pain, fluid accumulation, and metal poisoning. In India, nearly 4,700 surgeries were carried out using the faulty hip joint.

“While it is highly commendable that the government is providing compensation to patients, less than 200 out of the several thousand affected patients appear to have approached the committee headed by Dr. A.K. Arya for getting compensation. Most recently, the company seems to be going against the government’s direction and denying its liability in compensating patients. Following these developments, I call upon you to independently identify all patients who have received the faulty ASR implants in India,” said Dr. Shrikant Shinde, Shiv Sena MP from Kalyan, in his letter. Dr. Shinde who also holds a Master of Surgery in Orthopaedics urged the minister to take appropriate measures at the earliest.

Other MPs who have written to the health ministry include Chandrakant Khaire, Hemant Godse, Rahul Shewale, Arvind Sawant, Prataprao Jadhav, and Vinayak Raut. Dharam Vira Gandhi from Patiala, Karan Singh Yadav from Alwar, Kunwar Haribansh Singh from Pratapgarh, B.N. Chandrappa from Chitradurga and MLA H.K. Patil from Gadag have also written to the government with the same demands.

“The Agarwal Committee has observed J&J guilty of numerous violations, suppression information and negligence in approaching patients who were affected by the faulty implants. As a result of the company’s irresponsible actions and unjustifiable delay in reaching out to affected patients, the impact of ASR devices has been exceptionally grave in India with patients experiencing severe adverse effects and huge financial costs that have permanently disrupted their lives,” Mr. Chandrappa pointed out in his letter.

According to Vijay Vojhala, a patient who was implanted with J&J’s ASR hip implant in 2008 and had to undergo a revision surgery thereafter, it is helpful that the MPs and MLAs are speaking out. “We need such voices to support us and we need many more of them,” he said. Patients have come together to form the Hip Implant Patients Support group that is reaching out to other patients who have been implanted with the faulty hip joint.

Patients in Delhi

Around 35 patients who were implanted with the faulty joint, including Mr. Vojhala, are currently in Delhi to meet the health authorities. The meeting has been scheduled on Wednesday morning. “We have been writing to the government to call us for a consultation. So far, we have been kept out of the loop of the compensation formula and recourse that has been charted out. We will finally be talking to the government now,” Mr. Vojhala said.

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