Process speeds up faulty hip implant claims

People seeking compensation for being fitted with faulty Depuy hip implants will no longer have to pursue the matter through the courts after agreement was reached on a dispute resolution process.

The new scheme, open only to claimants who underwent revision surgery, will be largely a paper exercise and could see settlements reached in a matter of months.

Under the process, a panel of 10 evaluators, comprising retired High Court or Supreme Court Judges, or senior counsel with experience in personal injuries, will evaluate claims and issue written, non-binding evaluations which may or may not be accepted by DePuy and the claimant. If a settlement is not reached, the claimant can still go to court.