As it has become evident that patients in need of coronary stents are forced to pay 1000 to 2000 times of manufacturing cost in India, public health campaigners, today (January 30), requested the Centre to regulate its price, and that too rationally. After analysing the industry figures, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has recently published data which indicates that by the time the patient gets the stent, the increase from the original cost of the stent is often in the range of 1000-2000 per cent. “With the evidence of over-pricing now crystal clear, the government must act immediately to control the prices of these life-saving devices,” said Advocate Birender Sangwan. He has filed two PILs in Delhi High Court that led to the inclusion of stent in the list of essential medicine.

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