New Delhi: Drug price regulator NPPA has approved hike in prices of cardiac stents by 4.2 per cent in-line with the wholesale price index (WPI) of the previous calender year, as per an official statement. As per the new prices notified by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), a bare metal stent (BMS) would now cost ₹8,261, while the drug eluting stent (DES) will cost ₹30,080. "After considering the WPI at 4.26 per cent for the year 2018 over 2017, it has been decided to revise the ceiling prices of coronary stents with effect from April 1, 2019," the NPPA said in a statement. Providing a major relief to lakhs of cardiac patients, the government had for the first time cut prices of life-saving coronary stents by up to 85 per cent in February 2017. A coronary stent is a tube-shaped device placed in the arteries that supplies blood to heart.

Source: Mint April 01, 2019 09:56 UTC