Almost a year after it slashed rates of coronary stents by up to 85%, the government on February 12 revised the ceiling prices of bare metal stents and drug-eluting ones. The ceiling prices are inclusive of 8 percent maximum permissible trade margin.
The decision is disappointing. It will limit patient choice and the availability of innovative technologies in the market. The only saving grace in the order is the NPPA’s expression that it is open to receiving stakeholder views.
NPPA warned that trade margin in excess of 8 percent shall be construed as ‘violation’ of the provisions of the DPCO , 2013 under the Essential Commodities Act , 1955.
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority on Monday said that after intensive deliberations , it decided that cardiac stents have “paramount importance” on public health and so, its price must be kept under regulation in the larger interest.
The move was to prevent the cardiac stents’ market from going back to its archaic state , when it was characterised by “exorbitant margins” that led to exploitative pricing , ethical profiteering and an extraordinarily failed market system , the authority added.
A coronary stent is a tube-shaped device placed in the arteries that supply blood to the heart. It keeps the arteries open in the treatment of coronary heart diseases.
In the case of bare metal stents (BMS) , the government has increased the prices from current Rs 7,400 to Rs 7,660. On the other hand, the price of drug-eluting stents (DES) has come down to Rs 27,890 from Rs 30,180.