Praise, protest at stent price cap

New Delhi, Feb. 14: Health rights’ groups have hailed the Centre’s order yesterday that imposed price caps on coronary stents, saying it was a long-overdue move to curb “exploitative pricing” and help patients, but stent-makers have decried it as “unreasonable”. The order from the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority sets the ceiling prices of coronary stents – tiny devices that help declog blocked arteries – at Rs 7,260 for bare metal stents, and Rs 29,600 for drug-eluting stents, which make up over 90 per cent of the market.