Parliamentary Panel Seeks 20% Cap on Drug, Medical Device Mark-ups

Key facts

• The Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare recommended that the gap between landing price and MRP of medicines and medical devices should not exceed 20%.
• The committee cited Tenecteplase, a clot-busting drug used during the golden hour of a heart attack, whose landing cost is Rs 18,000 against an MRP of Rs 50,000.
• The committee recommended rationalising the prices of peripheral stents and drug-eluting balloons.
• It recommended standardising the prices of clear aligners and dental materials, noting clear aligners cost between Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 5 lakh.
• It proposed promoting domestic production of costly devices such as implantable cardioverter defibrillators, heart valves, cardiac cath labs, pacemakers and PET scanners.
• It proposed a dedicated medical-devices subsidy fund for R&D and scaling, with incentives and preferential government procurement for devices having at least 50% domestic content.