SUPREME COURT CLOSES J&J HIP IMPLANT CASE
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Friday closed the case seeking action against Us-based pharma major Johnson and Johnson (J&J) for implanting faulty hip implants into patients in India, saying that steps have been taken by the centre to provide compensation up to ₹1.22 crore to them.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and justice SK Kaul considered the response filed by the Union health ministry which said that a compensation scheme has been formulated by it to ensure proper compensation to the victims of faulty hip implants.
Disposing of the public interest litigation filed by one Arun Goenka, the top court asked the Centre to widely publicise its compensation scheme to ensure that all the victims of such implants seek help for their grievances.
Earli e r , t he c e nt r e had informed the apex court that the report of its panel on alleged “faulty” hip implants, made by the pharma major was ready and would be filed within a week.
The PIL had alleged that “f aulty” and “deadly” hip implants have been fitted into the bodies of 4,525 Indian patients who had undergone the replacement surgeries since 2005.
Johnson & Johnson raised US prices on around two dozen prescription drugs on Thursday, including the psoriasis treatment Stelara, prostate cancer drug Zytiga and blood thinner Xarelto, all among its top-selling products.
J&J joined many other companies that raised US prices on hundreds of prescription medicines earlier this month.