Tukaram Mundhe’s Latest Action Plan for Medical Devices: MRP vs Procurement Prices Revealed | Today’s news
After aggressively attacking the food sector in Mumbai, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe has now focused his attention on medical devices and their exorbitant prices in the state.
Mundhe wrote to the drug ministry and the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) after a state government probe found that some hospital surgical consumables and medical devices were being sold at a markup of up to 2,841% over their purchase prices, according to a Mint report.
The FDA Commissioner in Maharashtra has asked to review the findings of the survey and take appropriate action. In its letter, the NPPA suggested limiting trade margins and placing basic categories of medical devices under structured price monitoring.
“Our survey has revealed an extraordinary disparity between the business acquisition price and the printed maximum retail prices (MRP) of medical devices used in inpatient care, as high as 2,841% in some cases, including IV sets, syringes, nebulizers and oxygen mask products,” Mundhe told Mint over phone.
What the government survey found
According to the survey, private hospitals procured some of the medical devices at prices lower than their printed MRP. For example, catheters were procured in ₹29.41 as against MRP of Rs ₹310, while IV infusion sets purchased at ₹11.05 were charged to patients in ₹325.
The survey covers surgical items used on inpatient units (IPDs), including products such as IV sets, syringes, nebulizers, oxygen masks and catheters.
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Why Mundhe wants to revise pricing rules
According to Mundhe, such medical products remain outside the direct price cap mechanism under the Drugs (Price Control) Ordinance, 2013 (DPCO).
DPCO empowers NPPA to regulate and enforce statutory ceiling prices for essential drugs and notified medical devices. However, Mundhe’s research found that many hospital surgical supplies are not subject to these strict price controls.
In his letter, Mundhe has called for rationalization of margin, inter-agency review and guidelines to regulate the permissible difference between trade acquisition cost and declared MRP.
“Unlike scheduled drugs, under the Drug Price Control Regulations 2013, many categories of medical devices fall outside the strict statutory price controls, allowing uncontrolled pricing practices to persist,” he wrote.
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NPPA examines price data
The NPPA investigates whether manufacturers and intermediary supply channels add large markups between wholesale purchase prices and the prices ultimately charged to patients.
Mundhe said the price disparity warrants investigation, including whether the differences could be related to margins, product quality or other factors.
He added that the issue goes beyond price, as patients often have limited information about the actual cost of purchasing medical devices used during hospitalization.
“This is not just a price issue, it’s a patient protection issue,” Mundhe said, adding, “There is a significant information asymmetry in health care where patients are often unable to judge whether the price they are being charged is fair.”
He further said that when a product procured at a low retail price carries an exceptionally high MRP, “the financial burden is borne by the patient”.
For the full article on the mint, click here
