India introduces price controls for knee implants (Reuters)
India has capped prices of orthopaedic knee implants, in the country’s latest move to bring down prices of medical devices.
The introduction of price controls marks the latest step by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to make drugs and medical devices more affordable. In February, it imposed a 75 percent price cut for certain heart stents – wire mesh tubes used to treat blocked arteries, which caused protests among manufacturers.
India’s drug pricing authority said on Wednesday that orthopaedic implants in India had unjustified, unreasonable and irrationally high trade margins, leading to exorbitant pricing.
Ananth Kumar, Minister of Chemicals and Fertilisers, told a news briefing the government had capped knee implant prices “in public interest.”
Kumar said the price of the widely used cobalt chromium knee implant, priced at up to 250,000 rupees ($3,895) at Indian hospitals, would now be capped at 54,720 rupees ($852).
The government will not allow “illegal profiteering, unethical profiteering”, Kumar said.
Major pharmaceutical companies have protested against India’s price controls on drugs and medical devices, arguing this will curb innovation and could hurt future investment plans.
Johnson & Johnson, for example, which makes artificial knees, has been worried about potential price curbs in this area.
Johnson & Johnson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
($1 = 64.1850 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Aditya Kalra and Promit Mukherjee; Editing by Euan Rocha and Jane Merriman)