SC seeks expert committee report on hip implants

New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre to submit a report of an expert committee headed by Dr Arun Agarwal on Johnson & Johnson's DePuy ASR hip implants.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice K.M. Joseph also asked PIL petitioner Arun Kumar Goenka to serve a copy of his petition on the central agency dealing with government cases.

Dr Agrawal is Professor of ENT at the Maulana Azad Medical College.

Goenka has sought directions to the Centre to take steps for protecting the fundamental right to life of 14,525 patients who have undergone DePuy ASR hip implant surgeries since 2005.

The court said that the government counsel "shall inform the court whether the report of the committee headed by Dr Arun Agarwal has been submitted and if so a copy of the said report along with the recommendations/suggestions contained therein be furnished to the court."

The court listed the matter for further hearing after two weeks.

The committee, among other things, recommended a compensation of Rs 20 lakh to affected patients and formation of central and regional committees to ensure that the patients get compensation.

The petitioner also sought a direction to the Centre to advertise across the country about the recall of DePuy ASR implant and devise a suitable mechanism for the safety of 14,525 persons who received faulty implants.

The petitioner also pleaded for constitution of a special investigation team comprising senior medical professionals and police officers to help all patients who received DePuy ASR implants.