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MUMBAI: Prices of exorbitantly-priced orthopaedic implants are expected to come down by 40-50%, with a government body suggesting-for the first time ever-price caps to make them more affordable for patients . At present, there are no controls on steeply-priced medical devices like cardiac stents and orthopaedic implants, giving rise to fleecing of consumers.Hip and knee surgeries are out of reach for over 80% of affected patients thanks to the steep cost of implants. Kn+ee implants cost between Rs 80,000 to Rs 1 lakh, while hip implants range from Rs 70,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh. The National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC), a government body under the ministry of health and family welfare asked to look into ways to make medical devices affordable, has suggested ceiling prices in its report submitted to the drug pricing regulator National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), sources told TOI.After 10 years, 13-year-old boy now all set to walk againAccording to official sources, price regulation on cardiac stents and implants is expected to be discussed when the department of pharmaceuticals meets medical device manufacturers and health ministry officials on Monday. The sources say that important packaging and labelling changes-including declaring the maximum retail price (MRP), as well as the per unit price on the pack-could be made mandatory to start with.Nearly 80% of the high-end devices, including cardiac stents and implants, are mainly import driven, while the domestic industry manufactures disposables and medical supplies.Over the last few years, there have been complaints about overcharging, with regulators investigating cases where patients have coughed up almost three to four times the landed cost (price at which these are imported) for certain devices like stents. Since these devices are imported, their prices are already high, and go up further with the duties levied on them.There are concerns as there is a huge gap between the imported price of stents and implants, and the price charged to patients. The cost to patient gets inflated as these are sold by the company at a margin to distributors, and further to hospitals, who levy a "handling surcharge", which is also not fixed, resulting in huge treatment expenses for patients.Now, drive in your pets at multi-speciality fracture hospitalWorse, the pricing structure is opaque, with no MRP mentioned on the stent or implant pack and there being no method to determine the margin charged by the distributor or hospital. Knee implants cost around Rs 80,000 to Rs 1 lakh, while hip implants are around Rs 70,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh, depending on the specifications (see chart).Earlier, the NHSRC had recommended that prices of bare metal stents be capped at Rs 19,000 (cost Rs 12,000- 20,000), and the maximum price for drug eluting stents be pegged at Rs 28,000 (market cost Rs 23,000 and Rs 1.2 lakh). Faced with complaints on the steep cost of devices, the government had recommended a string of measures earlier this year including creating an autonomous body, pricing control by including them under the Essential Commodities Act, and a separate policy for regulating prices.Efforts to bring down prices of medical devices, including stents, have failed as the government has not been able to reach a consensus, with some departments having opposed the move saying it may impede potential foreign investment.To start with, a government official said "the proposed changes to print the MRP on each device could help cap the price, and make companies compete to offer lower prices". "A few efforts have been made to control prices, but still a lot needs to be done (in the price structure) to make them affordable," Dr Amal S Prasad, an orthopaedic surgeon, told TOI.