Days after the Centre approved a formula for determination of compensation, a group of patients affected by Johnson and Johnson's faulty hip implants on Thursday told the government that the method was unacceptable to them as it was done "without due consultations" with stakeholders and "unjustly" denies relief to many of them.
In a letter to Union Health Minister J P Nadda, the patients alleged that the formula devised by the ministry has "multiple gaps" and is "riddled with ambiguities".
The patients said it will be "necessary" to hear their views in order to arrive at a compensation formula which is "just and fair" to the affected.
The letter said that despite their repeated appeals that transparency in the proceedings of the committees entrusted to carry out the compensation and in the implementation of the mechanism is paramount, patients are being completely sidelined and reduced to mere spectators even in the government-led process.
"We respectfully submit that we cannot accept a formula that was devised through discussions exclusively with Johnson and Johnson, and without a consultative process with all the stakeholders, as has been incorrectly represented in the media.
"The formula therefore has multiple gaps that may have easily been avoided if the process of consultation with victims and civil society groups was done. The formula unjustly denies compensation to many patients," Vijay Vojhala, one of the 70 affected patients who have come together under the banner Hip Implant Patients Support Group , said in the letter.
The group claims that its members are patients from across India who have been implanted with faulty hip implants such as DePuy or Johnson and Johnson's ASR resurfacing and ASR XL implants. The group comprises patients, family members and some public health specialists advocating for regulatory reforms to improve patient safety.
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The Health Ministry recently approved the formula for determination of compensation for patients who prior to August 2010, had received faulty articular surface replacement hip implants manufactured by the Johnson and Johnson.
According to the formula, those affected were eligible for compensation ranging from Rs 30 lakh to Rs 1.2 crore.
The government had constituted a central expert committee under the Chairmanship of Dr RK 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
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