Victims of Johnson & Johnson’s faulty ASR hip implants on Wednesday met the central expert committee set up by the Union Health Ministry and shared their reservations about the proposed compensation formula and the process.
Several affected patients from the Hip Implant Patients Support Group (HIPS), who participated in the meeting said, “we have only presented our concerns and reiterated our demands of swift and adequate compensation.’’
Almost 40 victims and family members met with the panel and noted that the meeting had finally materialised after repeated requests by HIPS that the government meet them to understand the full extent of the damage done by the ASR hip implants.
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“We are glad that the government and the committee finally called us for this meeting, though the limited duration of the meeting meant we could place our concerns and cases before the committee only in a limited way,” said Renu Seth of Delhi. “Still, we hope this is only the first meeting with the government and that even in this short time they were able to see the true extent of suffering and devastation of our lives caused by J&J’s ASR hip implants,” she added.
In August 2018, the government-appointed Agarwal Committee’s report, which recommended compensation for the ASR hip implant victims, was released. Subsequently, a Central Expert Committee headed by Dr. R.K. Arya was convened in October to start the compensation process. The compensation formula, recently approved by the government, was met with encountered serious reservations from patients as it had many deficiencies, exclusions and lacunae.
The patients shared their views regarding the compensation formula, the process and related issues at the meeting with the expert panel.
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“For my husband and me, it came as a great shock when our doctors told us to stop planning a family due to the levels of cobalt and chromium in my body and the negative impacts that that could have on pregnancy and on any baby we would conceive,” said Jyoti Rani, who suffered a miscarriage years after the recall of the device and was unaware of toxicity associated with the implant until 2016. “I hope the government and the Central Expert Committee realises that physical disability is only one of the serious problems faced by us; the impact on our families and our personal lives, the mental agony that we have suffered must be recognised,” the Visakhapatnam resident added.
“I am very pleased that I managed to travel to Delhi for this meeting,” said Manoj Kumar Sangabattula, who was the youngest recipient of an ASR implant in the group when he was 20 years. “Even though it added an additional financial burden on me and my family, it was important not just to make sure the government sees the actual human suffering caused by J&J but also to meet so many other hip implant victims face-to-face and realise that I am not alone in this battle,” he added.
“Many of our members are in the Consumer Court or in other forums demanding justice from J&J and the government,” said Vijay Vojhala of Mumbai. “We will continue our efforts on all fronts. We have made it clear to the government and the committee that compensation is only one part of our battle. We will not rest till J&J is investigated, prosecuted and held accountable for their criminal negligence and actions that have left us disabled, in pain and with life long suffering.”
Meanwhile, a group of Members of Parliament have written to the Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda asking him to take appropriate action against J&J and ensure speedy justice. In his letter Chandrakant Khaire, Shiv Sena MP, wrote: “Most recently, the company J&J seems to be going against the government’s direction and denying its liability in compensating patients. I call upon you ‘sir’ [Mr. Nadda] to independently identify all patients who have received the faulty implants in India; and take appropriate action/s against the company to ensure that justice is met to all the sufferers of these faulty hip implants.’’
The letter’s signatories include B. N. Chandrappa and H.K. Patil (both from the Congress) and other Shiva Sena MPs Hemant Tukaram Godse, Rahul Shewale, Arvind Sawant and Prataprao Jadhav.