Heart patients are being robbed royally by hospitals and stent makers if the proposed formula released by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to fix the ceiling price of coronary stents is any indication. The office memorandum released by NPPA on Thursday (January 12) reveals that stents are imported at a very low price, but sold at exorbitant prices. The price calculated by the NPPA after adding 35 per cent margin to the import cost comes to only Rs 21,881.
Hospitals charge patients from Rs 60,000 to Rs 1,60,000 depending on various brands – 300 to 700 per cent more.