tribune news service
New Delhi, 20 November
A coronary stent, which helps treat heart disease by opening up narrowed arteries, remains on the national list of essential medicines notified by the government this week. Both Bare Metal Stents (BMS) and Drug Eluting Stents (DES) were presented at NLEM 2022. This would give the National Drug Pricing Agency the flexibility to further limit stent prices, which the NPPA has cut significantly in the past.
The latest version of NLEM includes a metallic DES and a bioabsorbable vascular scaffold (BVS) apart from a biodegradable stent.
This development comes at a time when the burden of ischemic heart disease (also known as coronary artery disease) is increasing in India.
According to the latest World Health Statistics report, ischemic heart disease is the leading cause of death in India, followed by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and stroke.
Under the heading ‘India’s Country Profile’, the report states that ischemic heart disease is responsible for 1215.4 thousand deaths (approximately 12 million), comprising 12.4% of all deaths in the country, followed by All deaths attributed to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, totaling 1061.9 thousand (approximately Rs 10 lakh) per 10.8 cents per year.
NPPA put coronary stents under price control for the first time in 2017, reducing costs by more than 80%. The original price of DES (prior to 15 February 2017) was Rs 1.21 lakh and the price of bare metal stent was Rs 45,000.
In December 2018, the government once again resisted market pressure and lowered the ceiling price of DES from Rs.29,600 to Rs.27,890. With the continuation of coronary stents at NLEM, the NPPA may consider further price cuts.
NLEM 2022 also includes four leading anticancer drugs and four patented antiviral drugs used to treat tuberculosis, HIV and chronic hepatitis C.
This list contains 384 medicines compared to 376 in NLEM 2015. 34 drugs have been added to the previous list and 26 have been deleted. With the latest additions, NLEM 2022 now lists 63 anticancer agents, enabling price control and affordability.
NLEM medicines cannot be sold above the NPPA ceiling price. All other medicines are allowed up to 10 pc price increases per year.
