An angioplasty will now cost a couple of thousands less as the Union government has added coronary stents to the list of essential medicines
"The notification regarding bringing the coronary stents under the national list of essential medicines (NLEM) 2015 has been issued," a senior Health Ministry official said.
He said prices of the stents will get fixed now. "The margin for hospitals in terms of the MRP of these stents were too high. Now after the fixing of price, the affordability will increase," the official said.
The government based its decision on a sub-committee report that recommended putting all types of stents into the list.
According to the notification put up on the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation website, "the sub-committee has submitted its report to the government and after examination of the report, the government of India has accepted the recommendations of the sub-committee".
The government further decided the recommendations of the sub-committee with regard to the inclusion of the coronary stents in the NLEM 2015 will be operational with immediate effect, the notification added.
The government had constituted a sub-committee last year under the chairmanship of YK Gupta, head, department of pharmacology, AIIMS, to examine the issues relating to the essentiality of coronary stents.
Medicines and devices listed in the NLEM must be sold at the price fixed by National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), while those not excluded in the NLEM list are allowed a maximum annual price hike of 10%.
According to a report in The Mint, close to 60 percent of the market for stents is dominated by companies such as Abbott, Medtronics, Meril Lifesciences and Boston Scientific. India’s stents market was valued at $481 million in 2015, and is expected to touch $531 million by the end of the current year.
