Govt. may cap the mark up prices on knee implants

An analysis by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) shows that importers, distributors and hospitals are earning hefty trade margins that can range from 67% to as high as 449%. After capping prices of cardiac stents, the next in line can be knee implants to make it more affordable and accessible. The analysis shows that in case of an “insert” — used to replace a damaged bone or cartilage in knee replacement surgery — the average total trade margin is 449%, whereas that on the “total knee system” is 313%. The data shows distributors and hospitals earning the maximum margin from 120% to 163%, whereas importers also keep a significant share of the trade margin, ranging between 29% and 109%, depending on the product.