Several senior cardiologists in India have raised concern over the rise in the cases of the unnecessary implant of stents in India. They say if an audit of stent implant cases was done, over a third of the elective procedures could turn out to be needless. A few years ago in the US, which has better monitoring and oversight of medical procedures than India. Studies had found that only half of the non-emergency cardiac stenting procedures were appropriate.
Several cardiologists and hospitals were forced to cough up millions of dollars in penalties for unnecessary stenting. Stent companies too paid heavy penalties to settle charges of giving kickbacks to doctors. There is no regulation of hospitals in India, especially in the private sector where a majority of urban Indians seek healthcare. HOD of cardiology in well-known heart institute said that at least 25-30% of the stenting done in…
