New Delhi: On Tuesday, the high court sought a response from the union government on a plea seeking the sale and marketing of coronary stents only after the submission of adequate supporting clinical studies. The bench consisting of Mr. Satish Chandra Sharma, Chief Justice, and Justice Subramonium Prasad issued a notice to the Center and the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) on a public interest litigation filed by Mr. Mayank Kshirsagar, an advocate.

The petitioner stated that coronary stents are produced, sold, and imported with or without any supporting studies. Hence, the centre should develop precautionary measures for the use and approval of these devices. In his plea, he noted that cardiovascular diseases accounted for 1.79 crore deaths in 2019, out of which 1.52 crore people died of heart attack and stroke. He added that adequate access to appropriate drug-eluting stents (DES) was essential to saving their lives.

He added that all the stents are sold based on the specifications submitted by the manufacturer. He stated that he is not challenging the price of coronary stents fixed by the central government, but he is seeking a methodology to fix a ceiling price that can increase accessibility to the common population. He went on to say that Article 21 of the Indian Constitution guarantees everyone the right to reasonable health care.