Maharashtra: The Food and Drugs Administration of Maharashtra has found out that some medical devices and surgical equipment were sold at a much higher price than the MRP to patients at Private Hospitals.
According to a report by Mint, an estimated markup of about 2,841 per cent over trade procurement prices has prompted FDA commissioner Tukaram Mundhe to seek a review from the Department of Pharmaceuticals and the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) regarding medical device pricing rules.
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According to the Survey reviewed by Mint, there were major differences in the price range of medical devices sold to the hospital and the price that the private hospitals charged their patients.
In an interview with Mint, Mundhe said that there were markups up to 2,8421 per cent. IV drips, catheters, syringes, nebulisers, and oxygen masks were the medical equipment that were a part of the survey.
The Maharashtra FDA survey showed that private hospitals bought catheters for ₹29.41 and priced the MRP at ₹310, while IV infusion sets bought for a mere ₹11.05 are billed to patients at ₹325.
Mundhe told Mint, “Our survey has revealed an extraordinary disparity between the trade procurement price and the printed maximum retail prices (MRP) of medical devices used in inpatient care, reaching as high as 2,841% in some cases, including IV sets, syringes, nebulisers and oxygen mask products.”
The discrepancies have raised questions about how medical equipment prices are set across the supply chain.
According to the reports, a major reason for a huge gap in prices of medical devices is a gap in communication between the government's current price control body, DPCO and NPPA, which limits the price of certain medical devices and surgical equipment.
Mundhe told Mint that the survey found out that many surgical items used by hospitals were missing from the price-control list.
Mundhe explained that without strict government rules, hospitals can continue to charge massive markups.
He has asked central authorities to step in, review the system, and set a legal limit on how much higher a product's final price can be compared to its wholesale cost.
According to Mint, on August 10, Mundhe wrote to the Department of Pharmaceuticals and NPPA, he wrote “Unlike scheduled medicines under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013, many categories of medical devices fall outside strict statutory price controls, allowing unchecked pricing practices to persist.”
Mundhe also mentioned the issues of consumers and patients. He said that price regulation could be helpful for patient protection in the country, because patients are often unaware of the hiked prices that they are charged in hospitals.
Mundhe also added that patients have to face a lot of financial burden due to the high prices of medical devices that are used during treatment.
(Rh/ARC/)