Doctors caution against price cap on stents

Hyderabad: Cardiologists state that the ceiling price proposed by the Centre for cardiac stents will not work in the interests of the patient as the quality of devices could be compromised.

The medical fraternity states that this move will be detrimental as the newer, safer and more efficacious drugeluting stents — stents that can slowly release medicines — will not be made available in the country.

A senior cardiologist said, “The government is keen to provide affordable stents but it must be understood that device and service go hand-in-hand. It is very important to bring down the overall cost of the treatment and working on only bringing down the cost of one component will not help.”

Dr V.A. Subramanian, senior cardio-thoracic surgeon, said, “The rising cost of healthcare makes it very important for standardisation of healthcare systems. At the same time, manufacturing devices should offer different cost structures and regulate the devices that are imported. India offers volumes to the manufacturers which will make it easy for them to reduce prices. This is extremely important in terms of delivering affordable healthcare to all.”

With 80 per cent of healthcare services being provided by private hospitals, doctors said there is a strong need to ensure quality and efficacy of products along with improved clinical outcomes.

A senior cardiologist on condition of anonymity said, “Do I put a cheap stent and put patient’s life at risk or put a high-cost one and save the patient? Patient safety is the priority and good quality drugs come at a high price.” Cardiologists said there must be slabs set so that the patient as well as the medical team has enough space in providing best treatment.