Undue Government intervention in regulating medical devices acts as an obstacle in providing affordable and accessible health care to citizens. Critically Analyze (200 Words )
Refer - Financial Express
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
IAS Parliament 5 years
KEY POINTS
Government regulation of medicinal implants and devices takes place under the purview of Drugs and Cosmetics act 1940, this will enable the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to regulate the prices, supply, import, manufacture and sale of the devices under the Medical Devices Rules of 2017.
Implications of undue government regulation
· Capping the prices of medical devices result in the lowering of supplies, so cannot be accessed during crucial times.
· Huge lacunae in the quality of stents and other medical devices like hip and knee replacements; so while the government was focusing on only prices, the greater problem was the near absence of any type of effective quality control.
· Discourages the private investors in the investment of Research and Development projects in medicinal implants, as device manufacturers will suffer losses.
· No clear norms laid under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act with regard to Compensation.
Advantages of Government intervention
· Medicinal implants become cheaper thus providing easy access to poor people, therefore, reducing the Out of Pocket expenditure.
· Tends to increase the life expectancy of poor people, resulting in better human capital formation.
· It also increases the coverage acting as a strategy to realize the goals of universal health care.
Government intervention needs more focus on the quality of medicinal implants rather than costs, through private sector participation in manufacturing the implants and devices.
