BENGALURU: A day after a group of doctors submitted a request to the Prime Minister’s Office to cap the prices of knee and hip replacement implants along the lines of coronary stents, Dr Sharan Shivraj Patil, chairman of Sparsh Hospitals Group made a revelation that Indian knee and hip replacement implants do not last even for 20 years, which is the global standard.
He was speaking at a press meet on regulating medical devices here organised by AdvaMed (Advanced Medical Technology Association), a Washington DC-based trade association of over 300 medical technology companies.
“In India, knee and hip implants last for two-and-a-half years which is much lower than the global standards. This is because doctors are making do with less than optimum resources,” Dr Patil said.
He said that precision threading equipment wasn’t available. “The screws that orthopaedic surgeons use in knee surgeries aren’t indigenously developed. Those that are don’t have precision accuracy. When asked why, the manufacturers told me the equipment to manufacture it is too costly. We need more investment in the medical devices sector. It is not possible with the government meddling with the private sector,” he said.