KOCHI: The manufacturing firms of cardiac guide wire, balloon catheter and guiding catheter are extracting exorbitant profits in association with hospitals which goes up to 400 percent. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), which has identified this, is moving to rein in this trend. The NPPA, under the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, Government of India, is authorised to control the prices of drugs. It had recently lowered the prices of coronary stents.
In an office memorandum the other day, the NPPA said that based on available data from the official sources and manufacturer/importer, the agency had analysed the trade margins in the cardiac guide wire, balloon catheter and guiding catheter. According to this data, the average margin in MRP from import price in cardiac balloon catheter is 405 percent while in cardiac guidewire it is 158 percent. It is 295 percent in cardiac guiding catheter, 292 percent in cardiac drug eluting balloon or cutting balloon and 172 percent in cardiac guiding catheter with special features.
The average margin in the price to distributor (PTD)/stockist/hospital and MRP for cardiac balloon catheter is 234 percent, for cardiac guidewire 112 percent, cardiac guiding catheter 93 percent, cardiac drug eluting balloon or cutting balloon 140 percent and cardiac guiding catheter with special features 62 percent.
The NPPA says that the major sellers of these devices in Indian market are MNCs as well as some Indian manufacturers. “The information is being put in public domain in recognition of the people’s right to information and also for introspection by the manufacturer/distributor/hospitals,” it further said. “This seems to be a prelude to fixing the price of these devices by NPPA after its fixing of the prices of coronary stent. NPPA cannot shirk the responsibility in this regard since it has identified the huge margins extracted in the case of these devices,” said Mr K.M. Gopakumar, a health activist based in Mumbai.
