After cap on stent prices, NPPA wants more devices under price control list

In a letter to the govt, regulator asks for inclusion of more devices 'as soon as possible'

India's drug-pricing regulator has asked the health ministry to add four more medical devices to a list of products eligible for price controls to reduce costs to patients, which if agreed could be another blow to the country's $5 billion-a-year medical-technology industry.

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) had said it did not plan further measures after prices of some heart stents were cut in February by 75 percent, part of a government push to make life-saving drugs and devices more affordable.

But a letter to the health ministry sent in March, which has not previously been made public, shows the regulator