Tukaram Mundhe’s latest action plan on medical devices: MRP vs procurement prices revealed

After an aggressive run at Mumbai’s food sector, Maharashtra Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe has now turned his attention to medical devices and their exorbitant price in the state.

Mundhe has written to the Department of Pharmaceuticals and the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), after a survey by the state government found that some hospital surgical consumables and medical devices were being sold at markups as high as 2,841% over their procurement prices, according to a Mint report.

The Maharashtra FDA commissioner has sought a review of the findings from the survey and an appropriate action. Mundhe has sought to bring essential categories of medical devices under structured price monitoring.

“Our survey has revealed an extraordinary disparity between the trade procurement price and the printed maximum retail prices (MRP) of medical devices used in inpatient care, reaching as high as 2,841% in some cases, including IV sets, syringes, nebulizers and oxygen mask products,” Mundhe told Mint over phone.

What the govt survey found

According to the survey, private hospitals procured some of the medical devices at prices below their printed MRPs but provided the same to patients at exorbitant prices.

Several medical devices were included in the survey.

Why Mundhe wants pricing rules reviewed

According to Mundhe, such medical products remain outside the direct ceiling-price mechanism under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 (DPCO).

The DPCO empowers the NPPA to regulate and enforce statutory ceiling prices for essential medicines and notified medical devices. However, Mundhe’s survey found that many hospital surgical consumables are not covered by these strict price controls.

In his letter, Mundhe called for margin rationalisation, an inter-agency review and guidelines to regulate the permissible gap between trade procurement costs and declared MRPs.

NPPA examining pricing data

Meanwhile, the NPPA is examining whether manufacturers and intermediary supply channels are adding large markups between wholesale procurement prices and the prices ultimately charged to patients.

Mundhe said the pricing disparity requires examination, including whether the differences could be linked to margins, product quality or other factors.

He added that the issue goes beyond pricing because patients often have limited information about the actual procurement cost of medical devices used during hospitalisation.

“This is not merely a pricing issue; it is a patient-protection issue,” Mundhe said, adding that the patients are often unable to assess whether the price they are charged is reasonable or not.