Maharashtra FDA writes to National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority to regulate prices of stents

The Maharashtra FDA has written to the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to bring the cardiac stents under the Essential Commodities Act after it busted a major scam involving the import of cardiac stents. Maharashtra FDA Commissioner Harshadeep Kamble has written to the NPPA after its officers have found during investigation that cardiac stents are being sold at more than 300 to 700 % of the actual cost of the import of the cardiac stents.
The Maharashtra FDA has found that the companies that import cardiac stents inflate the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of the stents during import. The domestic distributors of these medical stents then sell the stents to hospitals at a profit margin of 125 % more than what they brought it from the importers. The hospital then again charges the patients who have to have these stents placed in them 25% more than what they paid to the distributors.

Kamble has now written to the NPPA seeking cardiac stents to be brought under the National list of Essential Medicines under Drugs price control order since these are life saving drugs. He has also asked for a fixed profit margin for importing companies, distributors and hospitals.