|
The Parliamentary Panel on Chemicals and Fertilisers has recommended to the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) and the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to look into the increase in prices of stents and bring it down, along with strict monitoring to curb overcharging.
The Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilisers, in a review on the price rise of medicines in the pharmaceutical sector impacting the lives of ordinary citizens adversely, recently stated that the increase in the prices of Bare Metal Stent (BMS) and Drug Eluting Stent (DES) comes to around 44 per cent and around 29 per cent, respectively.
"The Committee therefore, recommend that the NPPA as well as the Department should look into the matter to bring down the prices of stents in our Country," said the panel headed by Member of Parliament Kirti Azad Jha.
"The Committee also recommend that the NPPA should strictly monitor and ensure that the stents are not made available to the patients over and above the prices fixed by it and cases over charging, if any, may be dealt with strictly. The Committee would like to be apprised of the steps taken in this regard," it added.
The Panel noted that the coronary stents were included in Schedule I of the Drugs Prices Control Order (DPCO), 2013, on December 21, 2016, and the NPPA initially fixed and notified ceiling prices for coronary stents on February 13, 2017 at Rs. 7,260 for BMS and Rs. 29,600 for DES. Subsequently, the prices of BMS and DES were revised from time to time. The ceiling price of BMS as fixed on April 1, 2024 is Rs. 10,509.79 and the price of DES is fixed Rs. 39,267.18.
The Panel observed that the prices of BMS and DES has increased by Rs. 3,249.79 and Rs. 9,667.18, respectively. In addition to this, the patients have to pay the applicable Goods and Service Tax as fixed by NPPA and charges of hospital etc.
It has earlier sought the DoP to submit reasons for the huge difference in the prices of stents available in the market and control of the Department in regard to the rising prices of stents used by heart patients. It was following the submission of the DoP, the Panel recommended for the price control and strict monitoring of prices of the stents.
It may be noted that earlier this year, the prices of stents became a matter of discussion after reports surfaced that the Gujrat government has initiated efforts to introduce differential pricing for drug-eluting stents (DES) under the Ayushman Bharat - Mukhyamantri Amrutam (AB-PMJAY-MA) scheme, where the stents approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was to be priced at Rs. 25,000 per unit, as against those approved by Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) at less than Rs. 12,000 per unit.
The Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AiMeD), the umbrella organisation of Indian medical devices manufacturers has raised alarm over the differential pricing and wrote to Union health minister J P Nadda, alleging that the move is favouring multinational companies and this could result in huge loss for Indian manufacturers who contributes almost 69 per cent of the DES used under the scheme in Gujarat.
Following the protests, the State government withdrew the decision of having differential pricing. AiMeD has thanked the Government of Gujarat for repealing the differential pricing order, which may help Indian manufacturers including Gujarat-based Meril, SMT, AMS and SLTL, among others.
The Medical Technology Association of India (MTaI) has said that the move by Gujarat government to introduce differential stent pricing has resulted in misleading commentaries by "certain quarters" and advised all stakeholders to avoid divisive rhetoric to uphold patient safety, reward innovation and maintain the integrity of the healthcare system.
|