State seeks price caps on 18 more medical devices

Mumbai: A year after the central government capped the prices of cardiac stents, the Maharashtra government has submitted a report to the Central Health Ministry advocating the addition of 18 new medical apparatus in the Drug Price Control Orders (DPCO) in a similar attempt to rein in their prices.

The list includes catheter, orthopaedic implants, stents, intraocular cataract lenses, disposable syringe, IV fluid set, urine bag etc. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials told The Hindu that the Central ministry has already extended in-principle approval to the recommendations.

The FDA had acted against seven hospitals in the State for re-using the catheter and charging the patients the same amount on both occasions. Said an FDA official, “While we strictly oppose double-use, the hospitals claimed that this is an international practice. However, we have no such policy. In our subsequent visits to various hospitals across the State, the issue of overpricing of these medical tools was pointed out.”

A survey was carried out following which 18 items were listed, all of which are essential from the patients’ point of view but not covered under the DPCO. Said the official, “Since it is a Central government Act, any amendments have to be sanctioned by the Centre. We submitted our report, demanding that these items be brought under the DPCO.” FDA minister Girish Bapat said the move aims to help patients; Maharashtra's initiative in the cardiac stent issue benefited the entire country. “We are hopeful that the Central ministry accepts our report.”

Health activist Dr. Arun Gadre, who is a member of the Alliance of Doctors for Ethical Healthcare, said profiteering and the lack of transparency is ingrained in the medical profession. “The capping of cardiac stent prices was just the beginning. The government should show the will to control prices of each item used for patient care, be it a roll of cotton, a needle or an implant.” If a wider price control is implemented, the cost will go down by at least 40%, Mr. Gadre said. According to him, the wholesaler cost to minimum retail price of every item in patient care should not be more than 20%.

Early this year, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) held a series of meetings to discuss the pricing of secondary medical devices like catheters, balloons, guide wires and so on that are used in cardiac procedures. The minutes of the NPPA meeting stated that put together, these devices are responsible in medical bills shooting up.

The Maharashtra FDA last year pulled up seven top hospitals that were found reusing and reselling drug-notified medical devices like balloon catheters and guiding catheters in angioplasty patients. While doctors argued that reusing these devices was a cost-effective procedure, FDA said that the benefits were rarely passed on to the patients.