Johnson and Johnson faulty hip implant victims on Monday questioned the credibility of a Central Government panel to determine the compensation amount for them and alleged the entire process lacked transparency and followed no proper guidelines.
In a letter written to Union Health Minister J P Nadda, a group of over 30 victims also expressed reservation over the involvement of the multi-national company (J&J) in the process and threatened to boycott the entire exercise if their concerns were not addressed.
The Government has set up the five-member Central Expert panel to determine the quantum of compensation to be given to patients who received "faulty" hip implants, manufactured by DePuy International, a subsidiary of J&J.
The patients have also questioned the credibility of the panel. They said they are distressed to see the Government continuing its consultation with the J&J while the patients who suffered grievous injuries "have not been consulted even a single time".
"Given the lack of transparency and any guidelines, there are grave concerns about whether the committee will be fair, just, equitable and reasonable in determining compensation. "A committee operating without guidelines, framed through a consultative process...lacks credibility and effectiveness," they said in the letter. The patients said their apprehensions are compounded by issues such as the lack of clarity on which cases will be considered appropriate for compensation and the documents required by patients to make their claims.
They also expressed concerns over the manner in which compensation will be calculated, the "lack of expertise" in the committee to compensate for broader harm caused (for example, mental and physical pain, suffering, trauma), and the absence of any patient representative.
Earlier, a committee headed by Dr Arun Agarwal was formed by the Government to look into complaints of alleged faulty implants. The committee stated in its report that "the ASR (articular surface replacement) hip implants manufactured by DePuy International Ltd were found to be faulty which resulted in higher instances of revision surgeries globally including India".