Medical device companies are for the first time being asked to reveal the maximum retail price (MRP) of the devices they sell in India. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has written to about a dozen top medical device companies asking for a list of devices they manufacture or import along with their current prices citing "media reports" about huge trade and profit margins on devices like cardiac stents, orthopaedic implants and other devices, leading to patients being charged exorbitant prices. The move is significant also because the NPPA letter dated December 5 stated that this information was being sought to examine if there was any price violation in notified medical devices.
"While it is laudable that the NPPA is looking into the pricing of medical devices, seeking the MRP of a device or basing any regulation on the MRP is a totally useless exercise. There is no…
