Cataract surgery devices sold at 10 times the market price, Maharashtra FDA wants to cap prices like stents

Mumbai city news: Consumers are charged Rs8,000 for a brand of intraocular lens, which has a landing cost of Rs800. Another brand which costs Rs 7,000, is being sold for Rs11,350.

Intraocular lenses used in cataract surgeries are being sold at a rate, which is 10 times higher than the market price, said Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) officials in a report submitted to department of pharmaceuticals.

After the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority capped the prices of cardiac stents, authorities like the FDA, the legal metrology department and non-government organisations have demanded a price cap on other medical devices too. (HT)

Consumers are charged Rs8,000 for a brand of intraocular lens, which has a landing cost of Rs800. Another brand which costs Rs 7,000, is being sold for Rs11,350.

After the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority capped the prices of cardiac stents, authorities like the FDA, the legal metrology department and non-government organisations have demanded a price cap on other medical devices too. FDA officials said that they had sent the report with the investigation report on balloons (used to inflate the artery to insert stents in angioplasty) and guiding catheters (a thin tube used to guide stents through arteries).

“The supply chain, similar to that of catheters and stents, changes the MRP for hospitals, distributors and manufacturers to profit,” said an FDA official.

RPY Rao, president of SACR, said that along with intraocular lenses and catheters, orthopedic implants, dental implants and ophthalmic medication need to be brought under National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM).

“Eye drops and injections are sold 500-1,200% above the manufacturing cost and some products like Dexamethansone, used to treat short term inflammatory eye conditions, are sold at Rs35,000. Its better to bring them all under NLEM with one single circular,” said Rao.