Tukaram Mundhe broadens offensive, targets medical consumable margins

Maharashtra FDA seeks NPPA price caps on hospital consumables after finding huge gaps between procurement costs and MRPs of medical supplies.

The Maharashtra Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has written to the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to cap prices on all medical and surgical consumables in hospitals.

The NPPA is an independent regulator that oversees pricing of drugs and accessibility of medicines at affordable prices.

The FDA’s move follows a survey it conducted across 20-odd hospitals in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Pune and Sambhaji Nagar in July this year, which revealed a huge price gap between the actual procurement of medical aids and the MRP rates charged to patients. For instance, the FDA found hospital consumables like an IV infusion priced at ₹11.05 but being sold at a printed MRP of ₹325, a price gap of 2,841%. Similarly, a syringe procured at ₹6.75 carried an MRP of ₹57.20 and a catheter procured at ₹29.41 which was being sold at an MRP of ₹310.