impact on industry, Kumar said, "The landed price or manufacturing cost of imported BMS is Rs 5,415 and for DES, it is Rs 16,918.
impact on industry, Kumar said, "The landed price or manufacturing cost of imported BMS is Rs 5,415 and for DES, it is Rs 16,918. Hence, the ceiling prices have been set taking into account the ethical profit margins and R&D costs of each member of the supply chain of coronary stents." In case of serious violations of the ceiling prices, the NPPA has the authority to recover the over-charged amount, along with 15 per cent interest.
"There are no provisions for penalty right now. However, we can take criminal action and invoke provisions of the Essential Commodities Act and cancel the licence," NPPA Chairman Bhupendra Singh said.
The ceiling of prices will promote Make in India as at present the market size of locally-made stents is roughly 30 per cent.
"Seeing the huge number of patients and future requirements, foreign companies will also try to make in India to cut costs and remain competitive," the minister added.
To address the grievances of the common man, the ministry has already started two mobile apps -- Pharma Jan Samadhan and Pharma Sahi Daam -- on which an aggrieved person can register complaints and action will be taken swiftly.
The minister further said cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a major cause of death in India, which is about 25 per cent of total deaths. Out of these, 90-95 per cent CVD deaths happen due to coronary artery diseases.
In its 2015 report, the National Commission on Macroeconomics and Health estimated prevalence of CVD in 61.6 million while the health ministry report showed more than 3.5 lakh procedures done in the same year, which amounts to 4.73 lakh stents.
In 2016, the figure of cardiac stents must have been above 5 lakh, he added.
Unhappy with the development, trade body AdvaMed said, "While the intent is to cap prices in patients' interest, this pricing has the potential to block innovations and limit access to world-class medical care and options to deserving patients."
The singular focus on controlling ceiling price of stents, without attempting to address the larger picture and correct inefficiencies in the healthcare ecosystem will not achieve its stated benefit in the long run, it said.
There is a clear, measurable difference between different types of stents and their benefits. The government should have taken this categorisation into consideration before regulating prices, it added.
"This is disruption of the worst kind, bereft of sound economic or practical logic. This kind of arbitrary price fixation will do more harm to the patients, industry and the trade in the long run and will damage domestic manufacturing," said Gurmeet Singh, MD, Translumina Therapeutics (Indian Stent Manufacturer).
The Association of Indian Medical Devices (AiMed) said, "The government cannot vacillate from one extreme to another once giving a free run to all kinds of malpractices and then taking such measures which are neither feasible nor sound - even in the garb of welfare populism. That's why we have been demanding setting up of an expert body which really understands the medical device manufacturing ecosystem."
(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
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