Price fixing for cardiac stents logical, no shortage in equipment: DGDA

The speculation that a shortage of cardiac stents resulted in the government's move to reduce the medical equipment's price by up to 40% is not true, according to the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA).

"The government-fixed price for cardiac stents is logical, and there is no shortage of the medical equipment in the hospitals right now," said DGDA spokesperson and deputy director Nurul Alam.

He made the comments following a meeting to review the ongoing crisis. Members of the National Committee on Assessing the Price of Cardiac Stents, representatives from the health directorate, hospital directors, and personnel of law enforcement agencies joined the DGDA meeting that took place on Sunday.

A cardiac stent is a tube-shaped device placed in the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart to keep the arteries open in patients suffering from coronary heart disease.

DGDA Spokesperson Nurul Alam said, "There is no crisis of stents in the hospitals. The importers who want to raise the prices are spreading rumors about the shortage. The health directorate, which contains information about all hospitals, has ascertained to us that there is no such crisis."

On 12 December, the DGDA fixed the maximum price for cardiac stents for 27 importing companies.

Following the government move, 28 importers stopped importing cardiac stents and wrote to hospitals not to use their stents until a revision of the prices, resulting in an artificial crisis of the medical equipment.

On 18 December, stent-importing companies filed a writ with the High Court. However, the court did not issue any stay order; instead, it issued a rule seeking an answer as to why the announced price should not be declared illegal.

A hearing on the rule is scheduled to take place on 2 January.

If any direction comes from the High Court, the National Committee on Assessing Stents Price will sit to decide on price adjustment, said Nurul Alam.