Hyderabad: The price cap imposed on stents being made available in the Indian market is making the affluent patients rush to other countries where better but more expensive stents are available.
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority of India on February 14 had fixed the price of each drug eluting stent at Rs 30,000 and bare metal stent at Rs 7,500. Cardiologists say the best quality stents are no longer available in India.
Recently, two politicians flew to a southeast Asian country to get their stent implants done. Cardiologists in the city said the impact of the price cap was multifold. At one level, it meant that patients who have the money would rather go abroad for stent implants. It also meant that post-operative care had become more criticial.
A senior cardiologist said, “One politician, a heart patient, had a major block and required a higher quality stent but it was not available in the market. The treating cardiologist expressed his inability to procure a better quality stent due to the price cap. After 20 days, the patient went abroad and got the stent implanted. If this is being opted by politicians, other patients will follow them.”
He said the politician’s trip was planned in a secretive manner, he had to come back to the treating cardiologist due to a complication in the post-operative period.
A senior doctor on condition of anonymity explained, “The treating doctor attended the condition by making minor changes in the medicine. But these are the first signs of how patients from the affluent section of the society will opt for better treatment abroad if the innovation is not allowed to come into India.”
At a recent meeting, cardiologists discussed these two cases. Cases of patients are reviewed on a regular basis to understand the complications and also make changes according to scientific advancements.
Incidentally, even under GST, the prices of stents will continue to remain the same.
