Lok Sabha Question No. 1956 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-14
Subject: Capping Price of Stents
Ministry: CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS
Asked by: K. C. VENUGOPAL, MEKAPATI RAJAMOHAN REDDY, VEENA DEVI, C. N. JAYADEVAN, VINOD KUMAR BOIANAPALLI, B. SREERAMULU, RAMACHANDRAN MULLAPPALLY, KOTHA PRABHAKAR REDDY

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACEUTICALS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 1956

## TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 14 th  March, 2017

## Capping Price of Stents

1956. SHRI  K.C.  VENUGOPAL,  SHRI  M.  RAJA  MOHAN  REDDY,  SHRIMATI VEENA  DEVI,  SHRI  C.N.  JAYADEVAN,  SHRI  B.  VINOD  KUMAR,  SHRI  B. SRIRAMULU, SHRI MULLAPPALLY RAMACHANDRAN, SHRI PRABHAKAR REDDY KOTHA

Will the Minister of CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has capped the price of coronary stents lower than the existing market level and if so, the details thereof along with the regulatory changes which allowed stents to be brought under price control;
- (b) the measures taken by the Government to monitor the implementation  of  the  discounted  price  of  stents  and  ensure  its availability  in  Government  and  private  hospitals  and  labs  in  the country;
- (c) whether the capping of price of stents include imported ones also and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  steps  taken  for  quality control of imported stents; and
- (d) whether the Government also proposes to bring certain drugs/medical  devices  under  price  control  and  if  so,  the  details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS, ROAD TRANSPORT  &  HIGHWAYS  AND  SHIPPING  (SHRI  MANSUKH  L. MANDAVIYA)

- (a):  National  Pharmaceutical  Pricing  Authority  (NPPA)  notified  the  ceiling price of Coronary Stent vide its notification dated 13 th  February 2017 at INR 7,260/- for Bare Metal Stent and INR 29,600/- for Drug Eluting Stents (DES)

including metallic DES and Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold (BVS)/ Biodegradable  Stents.  The  average  MRP  before  this  notification  was  INR 45,100 for Bare Metal Stent (BMS) and INR 121,400 for Drug Eluting Stent (DES). The Drug Price Control Order, 2013 (DPCO, 2013) empowers NPPA to regulate the prices of essential drugs notified in Schedule-I of DPCO, 2013. Government  included  Coronary  Stents  in  the  National  List  of  Essential Medicines, 2015 in July 2016 and subsequently in Schedule-I of DPCO, 2013

in December 2016. (b): Government through NPPA is closely monitoring the situation and has alerted the State Governments and State Drugs Controllers to monitor the availability  of  stents.  NPPA  has  also  requested  aggrieved  persons  to  send verifiable  information/complaints  on  help  line  number  of  NPPA,  through online  complaint  mechanism  (Pharma  Jan  Samadhan)  or  on  Whatsapp. Industry has been appraised that all manufactures/importers are under legal obligation to maintain smooth production and supply of coronary stents of all brands which were available in the country before price cap. (c): The price capping is applicable to imported as well as indigenous stents. Import  license  is  issued  subject  to  the  condition  that  the  licensee  shall withdraw from sale any part of any batch of the imported stents being found not conforming with the quality standards prescribed under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and the Rules thereunder. (d): At present, there is no proposal to revise Schedule-I of DPCO, 2013.

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