Hyderabad: The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has taken significant steps to ensure that the costs of life-saving cardiac stents remain affordable for patients by issuing a notification to fix ceiling prices for all types of stents used in cardiac surgeries.
Effective from the start of April 2024, the NPPA has revised the ceiling prices of coronary stents, aligning them with changes in the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for the year 2023 compared to the previous year.
According to the order, the price of bare metal stents will be set at Rs 10,509.79 per unit, while drug-eluting stents (DES), including metallic DES and bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS)/biodegradable stents, will have a revised price of Rs. 38,267.18 per unit.
Manufacturers and importers of coronary stents with maximum retail prices lower than the revised ceiling price have been directed to adjust their existing MRPs based on the WPI calculation, in accordance with the provisions of the Drugs Prices Control Order (DPCO), 2013.
The retailers and dealers are also mandated to prominently display the price lists and supplementary price lists provided by manufacturers or importers in their business premises, as per the regulations outlined in Para 24(4) of DPCO 2013.
The NPPA has warned that manufacturers failing to comply with the specified ceiling prices will be held accountable and liable to deposit the overcharged amount along with interest, in accordance with the provisions of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013, and the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.
