Prime Minister Narendra Modi mused recently that the pharmaceutical and medical device industries were upset with his government’s decision to bring down the price of cardiac stents and other healthcare products, including drugs.
The government has regulated the widely varied retail prices of drug eluting stents used in cardiac patients to clear artery blocks, as high prices made treatment elusive for the poor. Now some influential companies are unhappy with him.
India currently imports nearly 80 per cent of its requirement of medical devices, as the country is not capable of manufacturing high-end products, including cardiac stents, implants and diagnostics equipment.
Inaugurating a multispecialty hospital in Surat recently, Modi said, “Many pharma firms are unhappy with my decision for cheaper stents and medicines. But, my commitment is to provide affordable healthcare for the poor and the middle class.”
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, the central government department responsible for regulating prices of drugs and healthcare products had in February slashed prices of the most commonly used coronary stents to Rs 29,600, approximately, five times lower than the maximum rate charged for drug eluting stents by the manufacturers.
The government had also capped prices of more advanced forms of biodegradable stents, which were introduced in the country a couple of years ago, in the same range.
Prices of marginally used bare metal stents were reduced to Rs 7,260 from around Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 charged at the hospitals. Earlier, prices of drug eluting stents were in the range of Rs 75,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh, based on the make. After implementing the price cut, the NPPA had also warned hospitals of strict penal actions against hospitals and doctors found overcharging these products to patients.
Expressing its strong disappointment in the price cap, the Medical Technology Association of India (MTAI), a representative body of the domestic arm of global medical device makers, said that the government must not undercut market dynamics.
Although the Prime Minister has assured the government that it was committed to make medical devices such as drug eluted stents affordable to the common man, the key concern in the market is that the industry ire against the government move could result in a severe shortage of these products, which is already somewhat evident.
BW Reporters
Unnikrishnan is currently Senior Associate Editor with BW Businessworld at its Mumbai Bureau. During his two decades long journalistic career, he has received several media awards and recognitions. His articles on healthcare, life sciences and intellectual property rights (IPR) have been republished by several international blogs and journals.
