Intravenous fluids injected into a patient?s vein either as a medium for other medicines or to relieve dehydration may soon get costlier as the drug price regulator is considering an upward revision in their prices?for the first time in eleven years.
Four-fifths of patients admitted to a hospital require intravenous fluids regularly, making it an essential part of treatment as well as the hospital bill, according to medical practitioners.
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is now doing a cost study to decide on the quantum of price increase so that producers can meet their increased cost of packaging materials, sterility standards and logistics, said a person privy to the development.
Although it is bad news for patients, the upward price revision will enable market leaders such as the Indian arm of Baxter International Inc and domestic producer Nirlife, the healthcare division of Nirma Ltd, to recoup their increased cost and keep their brands viable. Claris Lifesciences is another major producer of the drug.
According to a Mumbai-based pharma sector analyst, intravenous fluids have a big market with an annual turnover of more than Rs 400 crore, which is growing at about 14% a year due to its essential nature.
?80% of all patients admitted to a hospital as well as a similar number of patients in the emergency and intensive care units need intravenous fluids. A price rise in such widely used materials could push hospital bills up,? said a New Delhi-based medical practitioner. Intravenous fluids are used to administer other medicines as it is the fastest way to deliver drugs throughout the body. These are of two types, sugary (dextrose) and saline.
Their choice is made depending on the properties of the medicine to be administered as well as the patient?s risk of low sugar or high sodium. These were brought under price control in 1998 using a public interest clause in the drug price control order?an executive order issued under the Essential Commodities Act.
Presently, a 500-ml plastic bottle of intravenous fluid of 5% strength costs the consumer Rs 17 excluding excise duty, while the same product in glass bottle is available for Rs 21.
The 11-year old price set by the regulator is still applicable, explained a pharmacist in a leading hospital in the capital.
The NPPA had fixed the price on a pro-rata basis, that is, producers have to work out the permissible price for their brand on the basis of the price that the regulator has set for a benchmark dosage.
Intravenous fluids were the first pharmaceutical products which were brought under price control using a public interest clause a decade ago because they showed unreasonable price increase in a short span.
The previous UPA government had used the same clause to reign in spiralling drug prices.