Transfer of NPPA head who capped stent, implant prices sparks protests

The transfer of the chairman of the National Pharmceutical Pricing Authority, Bhupendra Singh, who had capped the price of stents and knee implants and exposed the huge margins being charged by corporate hospitals has evoked howls of protest from public health activists.
RSS-affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch too has taken exception to the move, tweeting sarcastically about the “reward” given to a bureaucrat for doing a good job.

The All India Drug Action Network, a civil society group that works on accessible healthcare, expressed concern over “the manner and timing of the transfer” and said it “seriously impacts public interest particularly when measures are being taken to plug unethical profiteering”. AIDAN said it feared that Singh’s transfer was due to pressure from the industry and corporate hospital lobby.

AIDAN added that the manner of the transfer created a chilling effect on the functioning of NPPA and conveyed a message of insecurity to the incumbent, which could prevent the new chairperson from acting decisively. “Singh has taken many positive steps to ensure affordability of medicines and medical devices that discomforted the industry.

The NPPA undertook landmark price control of stents and knee implants. There was greater accountability to the public because of increased transparency and responsiveness to grievances of patients and the industry. Enforcement was also significantly strengthened with the recovery of hundreds of crores due to overcharging by the industry,” said AIDAN.

Ashwini Mahajan, national co-convenor of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, an affiliate of RSS, tagged the PMO and the PM tweeted that “your key man against pharma lobby”, bringing down cost of stents and knee implants, exposing more than over 1700% profiteering by corporate hospitals and who was working on bringing down price of other medical consumables and devices has been “rewarded” with transfer.

“Change is inevitable but should not be disruptive and when good officers leave suddenly it is disconcerting and not motivating for other officers,” said Rajiv Nath of the Association of Indian Medical Device Industry (AIMeD).

Singh, an UP cadre IAS officer of the 1985 batch, took over as chairman in January 2016. His predecessor Injeti Sriniwas, who was appointed in June 2014, was unpopular with the pharma industry for his proactive measures to implement price control.

He was moved to the post of director general of Sports Authority of India nine months later but held the post as an additional charge till Singh took over.

AIDAN demanded that the government reconsider the transfer and make NPPA a statutory body with fixed term periods for the chairperson to ensure the independence and integrity of the regulator.