Govt directs J&J to pay Rs 74 lakh to first victim of faulty hip implant

Companies News

The expert committee under the central government that was to look into compensation for patients affected by faulty hip implants of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has asked a compensation of Rs 74 lakh to be paid to the first patient.

Central drug regulator Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has directed J&J to pay the compensation amount within 30 days.

The expert committee had earlier suggested that patients should be paid based on the disability caused.

According to estimates, more than 4,000 patients were affected by the company’s faulty implants.
The government wrote to J&J’s subsidiary DePuy Synthes, which made the devices, asking them to provide compensation till 2025.

Since 2011, a number of people have complained about the hip implants supplied by the company. The Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took up the case and an FIR was filed in 2014, naming DePuy Synthes.

But the authorities could not push for compensation due to legal issues. The case went to the Bombay High Court. The court advised the FDA to continue with the inquiry.

The committee, set up in 2017 by the Union health ministry to review the matter, submitted its report in February.


  In its report, made public on Tuesday, the panel said the company did not take any corrective action for patients suffering because of these implants.

Govt lowers sale price of Bt cotton seeds for a 450-gram packet to Rs 730

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Companies News

The Centre has marginally lowered the maximum sale price of Bt cotton seeds (BG-II) for a 450-gram packet to Rs 730 for the 2019-20 season. The licence, or trait fee, charged by companies has also been slashed by almost 49 per cent to Rs 20.

The new price of a Bt cotton seed packet weighing 450 grams and 120 grams refugia for the 2019-20 season — October to September — will be Rs 730, including a trait fee of Rs 20. The maximum sale price of Bt cotton seeds in 2018-19 was Rs 740, including trait value of Rs 39.

According to a gazette notification issued last week, for the second consecutive year after the central government started fixing its prices, following recommendations of a committee, the sale price of Bt cotton seeds, along with the trait fee, has been lowered.The licence fee is inclusive of all taxes. The planting of cotton crop starts in June.

For the 2019-20 cotton season, the retail price of BG-I genetically modified cotton seed varieties was not touched, while the licence fee was maintained at zero, as was the case in the previous season. However, it is of little consequence as BG-I cotton is already off-patent.

Lowering the retail price and the licence fee for Bt cotton seed packets (BG-II varieties) for the second year might impact the margins of seed companies, especially original licence holders, as it occupies almost 95 per cent of the country’s cotton market.


 ChartBt cotton seed prices were first lowered in 2016-17 by a panel constituted by the Centre under the Cotton Seeds Price Control Order in December 2015.The panel brought down the price to Rs 800 a packet from the previous Rs 830-1,030, while trait value was lowered by about 70 per cent, from Rs 163 a packet to Rs 49...Read More

Over 1,800 mementos received by PM auctioned, money to support Namami Gange

Current Affairs:

Over 1,800 mementos Prime Minister Narendra Modi received were auctioned in a fortnight-long exercise which began last month, the PM's office.

It is, however, not clear how much funds were generated through the auction, the proceeds of which will be used for the Namami Gange, a Central government project to clean the Ganga river.

During the auction organised at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), a specially handcrafted wooden bike, received a successful bid of Rs 5 lakhs. A similar bid was also received for a unique painting, which depicts Prime Minister Modi on a railway platform a uniquely artistic interpretation of Modi's special bond with the railways.

Other big ticket items include a Lord Shiva statuette which had a base price of Rs 5,000 but was auctioned for Rs 10 lakh, which is 200 times the base price, the statement issued by the PMO said.
A wooden replica of the Ashok Stambh, which had a base price of Rs 4,000 was sold for Rs 13 lakh, a traditional 'Horai', received from Majuli, Assam, (a traditional symbol of the State of Assam - an offering tray with a stand), which had a base price of Rs 2,000 went for Rs 12 lakh, a statuette of Gautam Buddha, which had a base price of Rs 4,000 was auctioned for Rs 7 lakh, the statement said.


 "Prime Minister Modi, even as Chief Minister of Gujarat, used to auction mementoes received by him, so that the proceeds could go for the education of girl children. Continuing the same practice, he has now enabled the collection of funds which will help clean up the Holy River Ganga," the statement said.