After an expose on reuse and resale of catheters by several hospitals, the Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in a report, has revealed overpricing of intraocular lenses.
The report sent to the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) states that these lenses used in patients undergoing cataract surgeries are priced at least 200% to 300% higher than the purchase cost.
The patient remains at the receiving end of this overpricing.
The report was sent to the NPPA by FDA commissioner Harshdeep Kamble last week. Mr. Kamble has since been transferred and has taken over as Industries Commissioner.
Lucrative business
Intraocular lenses are notified as medical devices. These are implanted inside the eye replacing the natural lens that is removed during the cataract surgery. Medical experts say that 1.4% of the total population requires cataract surgeries every year. Thus, the business of intraocular lenses is a lucrative one.
“We surveyed several hospitals which offered these surgeries and realised that the gap between the cost to the hospital and the cost to the patient is tremendous. This is mainly due to non-regulation on prices,” said an FDA official adding that like the coronary stents, the intraocular lens prices should be regulated by bringing them under the essential list of medicines. He cited an example of a lens, Acrysof IO, that had an import price of ₹2737 and price to retailer at ₹6,500. However, the MRP at which the patient gets it is ₹18,500.
In Maharashtra, six lakh cataract surgeries are carried out annually of which 2.5 lakh are carried out in the government sector. “The MRP regulation on intraocular lenses is thus necessary as a large number of cataract procedures are carried out in private sector,” said JJ hospital dean and eye surgeon T.P. Lahane, who carries out 12,000 cataract procedures annually by holding several camps across the State.
18 devices
The FDA, in its report to NPPA, has listed 18 medical devices such as oxygen masks, urine bags, ambu bags, disposable syringes, needles, antimicrobial incise drapes etc that are priced at high rates for patients. The report urges the NPPA to include these medical devices under the definition of ‘drug’ in the Drug Pricing Control Order 2013 and bring them under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) so that the prices are regulated.
