After stent price cut, govt in no hurry to cap prices of other medical devices: NPPA
1 min read 27 Apr 2017, 08:07 PM ISTThe government's pharma pricing body, NPPA, is trying to finalize a format for collecting price data of medical devices
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Mumbai: After a sharp cut in prices of coronary stents in February, the government’s National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is monitoring prices of other medical devices but is not planning to cap prices of other devices as of now, NPPA chairman Bhupendra Singh said on Thursday.
“As of now there is no proposal to cap prices of other devices but all the 23 devices which are there in the drugs and cosmetics rules, they are to be treated as non-scheduled drugs and under DPCO (drug price control order), prices of non-scheduled drugs cannot be raised by more than 10% in a year. We are seeking and collecting information based on a common format, which is there for not only devices but for all the drugs," Singh said at a press conference.
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He added that the NPPA is taking suggestions from the industry to finalise a format for collecting price data of medical devices, which include heart valves, intraocular lenses, and orthopaedic implants.
In February, the NPPA had slashed prices of coronary stents by up to 85%, capping the ceiling price of bare metal stents at Rs7,260 and that of drug eluting stents at Rs29,600. In April, the regulator said prices of stents can be increased by around 2% after taking into account the wholesale price index.
The government’s focus has been to make healthcare affordable for the public, which has raised concerns that more drugs and devices may come under price control. On 17 April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Surat that many drug firms were unhappy with the decision of cheaper stents and medicines and the government has put in mechanisms to bring down prices of medicines.
He added that his commitment is to provide affordable healthcare for the poor and middle classes.
