New Delhi: The Centre has sought a report from the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) after the Maharashtra FDA Commissioner, Tukaram Mundhe, flagged gaps between the trade procurement prices and printed MRPs of hospital consumables such as syringes, catheters etc.
“The department of pharmaceuticals will review the analysis by NPPA and see what best can be done,” a person in the know told ET.
In a post on X, Mundhe, who has been in the news for strictly enforcing food-safety measures in the state, had cited a survey of hospital consumables in Maharashtra that found an IV infusion set with a trade price of ₹11.05 carrying a printed MRP of ₹325, a markup of 2,841%. A syringe procured at ₹6.75 carried an MRP of ₹57.20, while a catheter procured at ₹29.41 carried an MRP of ₹310.
“These are not elective purchases. Patients cannot compare prices, seek alternatives, or question a number printed on a box while receiving care and the MRP itself is often fixed upstream by manufacturers and distributors, disconnected from the trade price by a wide, unexplained margin. The result is a system where the party bearing the cost has the least information to evaluate it,” he said.
The issue is likely to revive a discussion on trade margin rationalisation (TMR), which could never see the light of the day. The framework had sought to cap margins at different stages of the supply chain. While Scheduled medicines are subject to price ceilings under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013, most medical devices and consumables are outside the price-control framework. Mundhe recommended a review of the survey findings and clear guidelines on the permissible gap between trade procurement prices and declared MRPs. He had first informed about this decision to ET on July 31 in an interview.
The medical device industry has backed the call for action. “Patients deserve fair prices, not 2,800% markups, and ethical manufacturers deserve a level playing field,” said Rajiv Nath, forum coordinator, AiMeD.
