Centre seeks NPPA report on high markups in hospital consumables
The Centre has requested a report from the NPPA regarding price discrepancies. Maharashtra FDA flagged significant gaps between trade prices and MRPs for hospital items. A survey revealed markups of over 2,800 percent on certain medical consumables. This situation may revive discussions on trade margin rationalisation for medical devices. The medical device industry supports calls for fair…
Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Tukaram Munde has called for guidelines on the acceptable price difference between the cost of hospital consumables at the point of procurement and the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) declared by manufacturers and distributors. Munde emphasized that the pricing gap is a fundamental public health concern, as patients often have no insight into the true cost of medical consumables or any markups that may have been applied.
In a survey conducted in Maharashtra, it was revealed that the MRP for an IV infusion set was 2,841% higher than its trade price, while a syringe carried an MRP nearly nine times its procurement cost. The commissioner argued that the high markup is due to fixed pricing determined upstream by manufacturers and distributors, disconnected from the trade price by a wide, unexplained margin.
Most medical devices and consumables are not covered under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013, leaving the pricing and associated information largely unmonitored.
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