Hospitals must display price list of stents, says NPPA

The notification by the NPPA stated that in the coming days, state drug controllers would be inspecting hospitals to check their compliance with its circular.

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) on Tuesday said it is mandatory for all the hospitals, conducting angioplasties, to display a revised price list of the coronary stents at a ‘conspicuous’ location of the medical facility.

Several hospitals in Mumbai have said the latest generation of drug-eluting stents are still unavailable. (Pic for Representation)

The notification by the NPPA stated that in the coming days, state drug controllers would be inspecting hospitals to check their compliance with its circular. The notification added that all manufacturers and importers must send the revised price list to the hospitals by Tuesday.

NPPA officials are investigating the case in Delhi where a hospital had displayed a notice saying that they have not received a revised price list from the manufacturers. NPPA shared a picture of this notice on Twitter and called it a ‘clear violation’.

While several city hospitals have said the latest generation of drug-eluting stents are still unavailable, as distributors have taken them back on the pretext of revising their price, NPPA has made it clear that no manufacturer or dealer can ‘hold’ the sale.

NPPA also acknowledged that in the last few days, its has received complaints that manufacturers have asked hospitals to ‘hold’ the sale of the latest stents. Last Monday, the NPPA prices of all stents, bare-metal stent, drug-eluting stent and bioabsorbable vascular stent (BVS) fell by nearly 75%. The move is aimed at making angioplasty affordable.

READ MORE

FDA probe of seven hospitals in Maharashtra led to cap on stent prices

With international stents being withdrawn, Indian manufacturers step up production