The government on Monday said that it’s extending the ceiling prices on the orthopaedic knee implants for knee replacement system for another year till November 2026. The decision has come as the deadline on the capped prices ended on November 15. National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), the nodal agency for fixing up the prices of drugs and medical devices said that the last extension was given in September this year, which was in force up to the November 15.
NPPA had fixed the ceiling prices of orthopedic knee implants in August 2017 under extraordinary circumstances in the larger public interest. Since then, the authority has extended the price caps every year. Though the prices have been revised considering the annual inflation rate. Currently, the price of titanium alloy implant stands at Rs 51,563 whereas the price of revision knee replacement system is Rs 83,547.
At the time of capping the prices, NPPA had said that the trade margins for orthopedic knee implants were “unjustified, unreasonable and irrationally high” leading to exorbitant prices, making such implants inaccessible and unaffordable to a large section of patients in India.
Under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO), 2013, NPPA fixes ceiling prices of scheduled medicines and devices through a national list of essential medicines (NLEM). At the last count, the authority has fixed the ceiling prices for 930 scheduled formulations, including 131 anti-cancer, 11 anti-diabetic and 66 cardiovascular formulations.
In addition, retail prices of 3,482 new drugs – formulations launched by drugmakers which are listed in NLEM by combining it with another drug or by changing the strength or dosage – have also been fixed. NPPA also governs the prices of non-scheduled drugs by prohibiting manufacturers to increase MRP of drugs by more than 10% during in a particular year.