RSS-affiliated body welcomes govt decision on prices of stents

The RSS-affiliated Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) has welcomed the government's decision to keep intact the price cap on coronary stents, and demanded that prices of all medical devices categorised as drugs be regulated.
Prices of devices such as catheters, balloons and guidewires should be immediately regulated as the trade margins of these devices are extraordinarily high and they should be made affordable for the general public, SJM's co- convener Ashwani Mahajan said in a statement.
SJM congratulated the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) and the government for the decision to keep intact the price cap on coronary stents.
There is a need to make all medical devices more affordable to the masses in tune with the government's repeated commitment in this direction, Mahajan said.

Earlier, SJM had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister Ananth Kumar requesting for a downward revision of prices of medical devices including stents.
Yesterday, the drug prices regulator marginally revised the ceiling prices of bare metal stents and drug eluting ones, while keeping the stents under price regulation regime.
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.