New Delhi, Sep 25: Manufacturers of needle and syringe have urged the government to impose a price cap to stop the exploitation of patients by hospitals. If accepted, a price limit on needle and syringe would curb unethical practices in the medical field and overcharge of these products by hospitals. Often, patients complain of overpricing of essential and most commonly used medical devices by hospitals.

Manufacturers have written to the National List of Essential Medicines committee, seeking inclusion of all types of needle and syringe in the 'price cap' list. Cardiac stents and orthopaedic implants are the two medical devices on the list. The development comes after country’s drug price regulator National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) asked manufacturers to “self-regulate” the prices following an investigation in Fortis hospital case.

Fortis hospital was in the news last year after a seven-year-old class 2 student Adya Singh died of dengue on September 14-15 night and the hospital charged nearly Rs 16 lakh for the fortnight-long treatment from the family. Following the NPPA advisory, some manufacturers started printing the MRP wherever the trade margin was higher than 75 per cent. Earlier this year, prices were reduced in some instances. Heart Transplant Saves 13-Year-Old Life at Fortis Hospitals in Bengaluru.

“We want a level playing field. Hospitals need not sell at the MRP and are free to sell under it, but doctors have been blaming us (manufacturers) for high prices. With price caps or cap on trade margins, our endeavour is to make hospitals focus on making the procurement decision on quality of the medical device and cost minimisation, rather than current skewed practice of higher margins and profit maximisation," Rajiv Nath, president, All India Syringes and Needles Manufacturers Association (AISNMA) told TOI.

"This has taken away the motivation of hospitals to be cost competitive, and patients feel exploited patients feel exploited leading to a trust deficit," Nath added. In its letter to NLEM chairman, the AISNMA sought a “capping of trade margin to maximum 75 per cent on ex-factory prices for domestic manufacturer, and on CIF value (landed cost) for overseas manufacturers”.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 25, 2018 08:31 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).