NEW DELHI: Hospitals, nursing homes and clinics that implant cardiac stents cannot claim margins on the life-saving devices, says the government. The decision is expected to break the nexus between manufacturers, doctors and hospitals that have led to "unethical" markups in the prices of these stents.
A cardiac stent is a wire mesh tube used to clear blockages in coronary arteries and prevent heart attacks.
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority on February 14 slashed stent prices by over 75%. Including VAT, drug eluting stents (DES) and bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BVS) will now only cost heart patients Rs 31,080, while bare metal stents (BMS) would cost Rs 7,623.
