After cardiac stents, government now caps knee implants price, cuts prices by up to 69%

August 17, 2017, Prabha Raghavan, Divya Rajgopal

 After coronary stents, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has wielded its powers of price control on knee implants — devices used to replace parts of the knee joints that are damaged. The difference this time is that the regulator has exercised its own emergency powers to do so, instead of waiting for the government to bring the devices under the National List of Essential Medicines as it did on stents. 

The drug pricing watchdog slashed the prices of total knee replacement systems and their individual components by as much as 69%, an NPPA notification issued on Wednesday evening showed. 

This decision is expected to lead to a saving of Rs 1,500 crore per year for the people of India, union minister for chemicals and fertilizers Ananth Kumar said. According to him, 1-1.5 lakh orthopaedic knee procedures are done in India annually. 

Industry bodies representing manufacturers said they were reviewing the order and would take their suggestions to the regulator for its effective implementation. 

The price of total knee implants made of cobalt chromium has now been capped at Rs 54,720, down 65% from its average maximum retail price of Rs 1.58 lakh, data from the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers showed. These are the most widely used complete knee implants, it said. 


Total knee implants made of special metals like titanium and oxidized zirconium can be priced at a maximum of Rs 76,600, or 69% lower than the original average MRP. High-flexibility implants have also seen a similar reduction in the maximum price to Rs 56,490. Revision implants, used in repeat procedures when the initial knee implant has failed, is capped 59% lower at Rs 1.14 lakh, down from an average of Rs 2.77 lakh. 

Reference :


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ED tracks Swiss Bank A/Cs of Agusta scamster

The Poineer February 10,2019 Rakesh K Singh The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has tracked a dozen Swiss bank accounts in the name of Rajiv Saxena, who is key accused in the Rs 3,600 crore AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam. The ED has also found out accounts held by  his family members and associates where the kickbacks in the now scrapped deal were allegedly parked. Two bank accounts are in the name of Rajiv Saxena’s  associates Pankaj Jain and Sumita Jain who are also the authorised signatories. The  third is in the name of another associate Ajit Singh Bubber, but Rajiv and his family members are authorised signatories. The remaining nine accounts are largely owned and operated by Rajiv, his family members and associates. Rajiv Saxena was deported by the UAE authorities on January 30 and the ED formally arrested him the next day and a court later granted his remand to the agency. He is currently undergoing custodial interrogation by the ED. The agency had in 2017 arrested his
Read more

J&K Cricket Board Scam: Chargesheet Filed Against Farooq Abdullah, 3 Others By CBI

OUTLOOK July 16, 2018 The agency has levelled charges of criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust under the Ranbir Penal Code against Abdullah and three others. The CBI on Monday filed a chargesheet against former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah and three others in a special court in Srinagar in connection with alleged irregularities and misappropriation of funds in the Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association. After the fall of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the BJP government, this is the biggest development that has taken place in the state. The National Conference has not reacted to the chargesheet so far. The agency has levelled charges of criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust under the Ranbir Penal Code against Abdullah, the then president of JKCA, Md Saleem Khan - the then general secretary, Ahsan Ahmad Mirza - the then treasuer and Bashir Ahmad Misgar, an executive in the J&K Bank. The BCCI gave Rs 112 crore t
Read more

As financial insecurity rises in urban India, so does investment in insurance

Image
Scroll.in March 13, 2020 Urban Indians are becoming less confident about their financial security. Up to 58% of them fret over financial independence post retirement, which is a 4% increase from last year. An equal share of urban Indians worry about meeting their daily medical expenses and sustaining their current lifestyle once they stop working. The findings are part of a survey published by Delhi-based Max Life Insurance in association with London-based consultancy Kantar. The firms surveyed 7,014 respondents in 25 cities, including six metros, nine tier-1 cities, and 10 tier-2 cities, between December 2019 and January 2020. Source: Max Life Insurance via Quartz The trends Source: Max Life Insurance via Quartz Source: Max Life Insurance via Quartz Source: Max Life Insurance via Quartz A significant share of urban Indians also say their families will have no financial support in the event of the breadwinner’s death. In such a scenario, around 57% believe the family sav
Read more