Soon after the issue of stent price fixing order by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) several hospitals in Hyderabad have put cardiac surgeries on hold.

With majority hospitals adopting wait and watch strategy with regard to the changes in the new pricing model entrusted by NPPA, several patients, who wish to go for high end stents, are now planning to go abroad and get treatment.

Particularly the corporate hospitals are not coming forward to comment on the NPPA's directive to cap on pricing of the cardiac stents. However going by the mood of the hospitals one can say majority of the hospitals have put a hold on the cardiac surgeries and adopting a wait and watch approach.

“There is a possibility of slow down in the growth of healthcare market in the country due to the price control move by the government. Particularly this situation could lead to reverse medical tourism,” says Dr. Sashikanth, a leading cardiologist.

After the NPPA order most of the stent manufacturing companies have withdrawn premium cardiac stents from the Indian markets. Because of this it is impacting on the healthcare conditions of the cardiac patients. “NPPA’s order reducing the stent prices can deprive the patients of high quality stents if the makers withdraw from the market,” said Dr. Bhaskar from KIMS.

When contacted with the authorities at Gandhi and Osmania General Hospitals, they said that there is no shortage of stents but corporate hospitals where the bulk of the high-end stents are used are a jittery lot.

Apollo hospital officials observed that they have been complying with the NPPA order ensuring that the cardiac patients are treated as per their health conditions and there is no way needy patients are deprived of their medical treatments.

In the meantime, the government has also sent a communication to the stent manufactures, and distributors that they would have to send a weekly report of supply of stents. The government reiterated that companies, distributors and hospitals need to comply with its order slashing prices of cardiac stents by over 75 per cent and warned of penalties in case of violations.