'Capping stent prices could be detrimental to patient safety'

The latest move by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority to cap the prices of coronary stents could be detrimental to patient safety, industry body CII has said.
"This move could limit the accessibility of cutting-edge technologies in coronary stents for Indian patients, affecting both treatment quality and risking the high growth medical tourism sector," CII Medical Technology Division Chairman Himanshu Baid said in a statement.
The medical technology industry is disappointed with this outcome. The industry was expecting a reasonable price along with rational differentiation in drug eluting stents, to recognise innovation, he added.
The government had yesterday cut prices of life-saving coronary stents by up to 85 per cent by capping them at Rs 7,260 for bare metal ones and Rs 29,600 for drug eluting variety.

"We want to stop the menace of over-pricing of coronary stents in various hospitals. After careful consideration and after having inputs from various stakeholders, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has decided to fix the ceiling prices for cardiac stents," Chemical and Fertiliser Minister Ananth Kumar had said while announcing the decision.
The minister said the capping of the stent price will result in saving of Rs 80,000-90,000 per piece and gross relief of Rs 4,450 crore in a year for cardiac patients.

"Additionally, since this order is being enforced from immediate effect without provision of a transitory period, Indian stents industry is going to face enormous operational challenges in the coming time," Baid said.

Even after extensive stakeholder consultations, including eminent cardiologists and industry, on various methodologies to potentially control stent prices, it is evident that NPPA did not heed the suggestions offered in patient's interest, he added.
Further, Baid said that the industry requests NPPA" to immediately amend the order with a rationale transition timeline".