New Delhi, January 29, 2018 : NPPA fixed the ceiling prices of coronary stents vide notification dated 13th February 2017 which was valid for one year. This decision is to be revisited now during February 2018.
As per an order dated 29th January the Authority in its meeting to be held on 05th February 2018 in the Conference Room of NPPA will hear all the stakeholders.
On 30th January NPPA will meet eminent Intervention Cardiologists; on 5th Feb will meet AdvaMed , MTal, AIMED, ISMA, AMCCI, AMCHAM. ASSOCHAM, CM, FICCI, PHDCC&I, Multinational stent manufacturing companies, Indian Stent manufacturing companies and ADEH, AIDAN. CAI, ORF, Oxfam India. PHFI.
Apart from the above-mentioned stakeholders, if any formal stakeholder has been left out and wants to put forward its views, they are requested to send an email in this regard tochairman.nppa@nic.in for getting confirmation for the meeting. Not more than one representative of a company may be allowed.
In a memorandum dated 9 November, NPPA asked domestic and foreign stent makers to submit their representations on stent pricing by 31 December. Same month Abbott Laboratories refused to introduce its latest stent Xience Sierra in India. Earlier in September, it had received permission to withdraw its premium Xience Alpine metallic stents as well as its dissolving stents.
The stent price cap was also discussed at the 26 October US India Trade Policy Forum in Washington DC.
In September, US trade representative wrote to Indian commerce minister and the prime minister’s principal secretary that the policy had created serious problems for US stent makers in India. He also urged India not to extend caps to other devices. The matter was also discussed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington in June.
Will NPPA succumb to pressure from the imported device industry. Will Modi Ji’s make in India policy suffer?
Let’s wait the NPPA the consultation will decide the fate of ceiling prises of stents and weather it will allow new future stents at a higher prise
Dr KK Aggarwal
President Heart Care Foundation of India