Vijay Vajhala, who had revision surgery. (Express Photo/Kaunain Sheriff M)
The Supreme Court on Friday sought the Centre’s reply on a PIL asking the government to trace all the patients who have allegedly undergone faulty hip implants marketed and sold by Johnson & Johnson. Heading the Bench, Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi also asked the government to furnish a copy of the report filed by the expert committee on the same issue.
The plea asked the court to direct the government to advertise across India about the recall of the faulty implants. It also sought action against officials, who had issued a certificate to the multinational firms for selling the faulty product without any clinical trial. The plea also sought the appointment of a Special Investigations Team (SIT) to oversee effective measures for the implementation of immediate action against the implants, as reported by PTI.
A report filed by an expert committee, which was set up by the health ministry in 2017, suggested that the company had ‘suppressed’ facts on the harmful effects of the faulty hip replacement system. The panel estimated that more than 3,600 patients of the 4,700 who underwent the procedure were untraceable.
The committee had submitted its report on February 19, 2018, and also made a slew of recommendations which included that the company should be made liable to pay at least Rs 20 lakh to each patient suffering from the complications arising out of the alleged faulty implants. The Centre is yet to take a call on the recommendations.