Hip implants: National Consumer Commission directs Johnson and Johnson to pay Rs 35 lakh each to 4 complainants
NCDRC, which relied on various medical evidence provided by the complainants, said the implants suffered from “inherent manufacturing defects and released a harmful amount of metal debris, which was poisonous”.
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Compensation inclusive of Rs 25 lakh each already paid. Daisy Bharucha, Usha Gupta, Purushotham Lohia, and Lalita Rajpurohit — four patients adversely impacted by hip implants produced by multinational pharmaceutical company Johnson and Johnson (J&J) were recently awarded Rs 35 lakh as compensation by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC). This is inclusive of the Rs 25 lakh each already paid by the firm to the patients, said the commission.
NCDRC, which relied on various medical evidence provided by the complainants, said the implants suffered from “inherent manufacturing defects and released a harmful amount of metal debris, which was poisonous”.
The ASR XL Acetabular System and ASR Resurfacing metal-on-metal implants were voluntarily recalled globally in 2010. Along with paying for revision surgeries of the victims, the firm had also voluntarily paid Rs 25 lakh each to all those impacted by its faulty implants, according to court records.
In 2018, The Indian Express reported that the Indian arm of Johnson & Johnson “suppressed” key facts on the harmful aftermath of surgeries conducted on patients using hip replacement systems it imported and sold. These findings formed the core of a report prepared by an expert committee set up by the Union Health Ministry to investigate complaints on the hip implant devices sold by the firm in India.
In 2012, Jennifer Bharucha filed a plea on behalf of her mother, Daisy, seeking compensation, stating that her mother had to undergo several revision surgeries due to the hip implant, state the court records. As per some studies, about a quarter of patients had to undergo revision surgeries.
Mumbai-based Daisy underwent her first hip replacement in 2007. Four years later, after cracking sounds at every step and severe pain, she underwent her revision surgery. She passed away on April 29, 2014. In her case, NCDRC noted that lesions in the cerebral white matter that resulted in a brain tumour were caused by the implants. “All these ailments had causal connection with excessive cobalt and chromium released from metal-on-metal ASR hip implant,” it observed.
Usha, from Noida, was 52 at the time of the first surgery in April 2009. After facing serious discomfort, she had her revision surgery four years later.
Purushotham, whose car collided with a truck on March 20, 2006, was taken to Poona Hospital and Research Centre in Pune after he sustained various injuries. In June of 2008, he underwent a full hip replacement surgery.
Lalita from Ahmedabad had undergone her first surgery in mid-2007. In January 2008, she started feeling extreme pain, discomfort, and difficulty in movement in the hip region. She sought compensation of Rs 107.52 crore.
J&J argued that it had supplied the “information for use” to hospitals and surgeons. It also said in its defence that its hip implants were not defective 85% of the time and had no side effects.
The firm also submitted that as per Section 14(1)(d) of the Consumer Protection Act (1986), at most an order for the replacement of the defective goods can be passed. It said it had already reimbursed the revision surgery expenses. No evidence was provided to show patients faced a monetary loss amounting to crores, it said.
Rejecting these arguments, the NCDRC directed the pharmaceutical firm to pay Rs 35 lakh (inclusive of the Rs 25 lakh already paid).
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