MRP of stents, valves must be declared

Medical devices which are declared as `drugs' such as stents, valves,
orthopaedic implants, syringes and tools for operations will now have
to declare their maximum retail price (MRP) and other details including
that of manufacturer and importer. These also need to mention the consumer
 helpline number of lodging any complaint. The new rules, which come to
 effect from January 1also makes it mandatory for ecommerce firms to
 mention MRP of products, which is aimed at ending any ambiguity whether
the online firms are actually giving huge discounts that they claim in their
advertisements. ―Even after capping of prices of medical devices many
companies were not displaying (the rates). The new rules will be of great
 help to consumers at large and particularly the poor. The companies have
 to follow these norms under the legal Metrology Rules,― consumer affairs
minister Ram Vilas Paswan told TOI. These norms will come into effect from
January 1. Earlier, all medical devices were covered under the Legal Metrology
(Packaged) Commodities Rules. But in 1995, some of them were declared
as drugs and so they stopped mentioning MRP. A sub-committee set up to
 propose changes in the Rules had recommended bringing them back under
MRP regime. A consumer affairs ministry official said that the application of
Legal Metrology Rules will provide another layer to protect consumers' rights.
Non-application of MRP led to a crisis where consumers were charged
arbitrarily by hospitals for medical devices and the health ministry had to cap
the prices of stents. On March 6, TOI had first reported how government was
bringing such devices and the entire e-commerce sector under MRP regime.

Source: The Times of India