The Cardiological Society of India has urged the government to involve doctors in the process of pricing and evaluation of coronary stents, hoping to mirror the system followed in developed markets like the US and Europe. In a letter to the secretary in the health ministry, the 4,500-member grouping has suggested that stents should be considered under different categories for fixing price points. ET has seen a copy of the letter, which was sent last week.
In July, through a gazette notification, the ministry had added stents to the national list of essential medicines, a culmination of a long-drawn debate over exorbitant pricing of stents in India. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority was expected to deliberate on their pricing. The letter notes that the four components of stent—the delivery balloon, metallic platform, the polymer on which the drug is attached and the type of…
