Last week, the Union government announced that coronary stents will be retained on the National List of Essential Medicines. Price-controlled bare metal stents (BMS) and drug-eluting stents (DES) have been added to the revised NLEM list. The latest version of NLEM also includes metallic DES and bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BVS), apart from biodegradable stents.

This move has granted the National Pharmaceutical and Pricing Authority the flexibility to further cap stent prices, which the NPPA has already slashed significantly in the past. This development has come at an appropriate time when the burden of ischemic heart disease, also called coronary artery disease, is rising in India.

According to the latest World Health Statistics Report, ischemic heart disease is the leading cause of death in India, followed by chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and strokes. The report revealed that ischemic heart disease was responsible for 1215.4 thousand of deaths, accounting for 12.4% of all deaths in the country. This was closely followed by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, leading to 10.8% of all deaths totaling 1061.9 thousand in a year. 

(Source: https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/coronary-stents-stay-on-essential-medicine-list-452973)