IV sets bought for Rs 11.05, billed at Rs 325: Tukaram Mundhe seeks review as device markups hit 2,841%

New business data points to the fact that Maharashtra Food and Drugs Administration Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe has asked central authorities to review the pricing of commonly used hospital consumables after a state survey found markups of as much as 2,841 percent over procurement prices in some cases, Mint noted.

In an August 10 communication to the Department of Pharmaceuticals and the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, Mundhe sought a review of the findings and appropriate regulatory action. The proposals included capping trade margins or placing essential device categories under structured price monitoring, according to the report.

Mint stated it reviewed the communication, titled “Market Survey Report of purchase and sale price variations in Medical Devices (Surgical items used in IPD)”. Moneycontrol has not independently reviewed the document.

The survey covered products used in inpatient care, including intravenous infusion sets, syringes, nebulisers, oxygen masks and catheters. It compared the prices at which private hospitals procured the products with their printed maximum retail prices or the amounts billed to patients.

Private hospitals bought catheters for Rs 29.41 apiece against an MRP of Rs 310, the survey found. IV infusion sets procured for Rs 11.05 were billed to patients at Rs 325, according to figures cited by Mint.

Mundhe told the newspaper that the gap between procurement prices and MRPs touched 2,841% in some cases. He called for margin rationalisation, an inter-agency review and guidelines governing the difference between trade procurement costs and announced MRPs.

“This is not merely a pricing offering; it is a patient-protection offering,” Mundhe told Mint. Patients often lack the information needed to assess whether the price charged for a hospital product is reasonable, he stated.

The NPPA is examining whether manufacturers and intermediaries are adding substantial margins before products reach patients, two officials familiar with the matter told Mint. The authority is comparing firm filings and internal price lists with the Maharashtra survey, they stated.

The officials additionally told the newspaper that the NPPA had received similar representations from drug-control authorities in Punjab, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.

Under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013, the NPPA fixes ceiling prices for scheduled formulations and specified medical devices. Non-scheduled products are monitored under Paragraph 20, which restricts MRP increases to 10% over a 12-month period. That mechanism monitors annual price increases but does not prescribe a uniform ceiling price for every device category, according to NPPA guidelines.

The regulator has previously imposed direct price controls on categories including coronary stents and knee implant systems. During the Covid-19 pandemic, it additionally used trade-margin rationalisation for oxygen concentrators and several commonly used devices, according to NPPA’s medical-device pricing records.

Dr Aashish Chaudhry, managing director of Aakash Healthcare, told Mint that regulation should promote transparency and accountability while allowing hospitals to stay financially sustainable and invest in infrastructure, technology and patient safety.

The hospital-pricing reference follows a Maharashtra FDA enforcement drive in Mumbai’s food sector earlier this year. Mint noted that inspections under Mundhe led to the temporary closure of several eateries over hygiene violations.

Mint stated queries sent to the relevant Union ministries, the Department of Pharmaceuticals, NPPA and the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation had not received responses by publication time. Queries to the state authorities cited in the report additionally remained unanswered.