- Maharashtra FDA flagged steep markups on hospital medical consumables in a recent survey
- An IV infusion set priced at Rs 11.05 had a printed MRP of Rs 325, a 2,841% markup
- Patients lack information on actual costs versus markups on medical consumables in hospitals
Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Tukaram Mundhe has flagged steep markups on medical consumables used in hospitals, saying the most expensive part of a hospital bill may never touch the hospital at all.
In a post on X, Mundhe cited a survey of hospital consumables in Maharashtra that found an IV infusion set procured at a trade price of Rs 11.05 carrying a printed maximum retail price (MRP) of Rs 325, a markup of 2,841%.
The most expensive part of a hospital bill may never touch the hospital at all.
A patient admitted for care has no way of knowing whether the price on a medical consumable reflects its actual cost or a markup fixed long before it ever reached the ward. That gap in information…Also Read | Layoffs Are Rising In Tech, But These Skills Are Helping People Unlock Better Pay
— Tukaram Mundhe (@Tukaram_IndIAS) September 15, 2026
A syringe procured at Rs 6.75 carried an MRP of Rs 57.20, while a catheter bought at Rs 29.41 was priced at Rs 310 on the label, he said.
Mundhe said patients admitted for care have no way of knowing whether the price on a medical consumable reflects its actual cost or a markup fixed long before it reached the ward, calling this information gap "at its core, a public health issue".
He said these are not elective purchases, and patients cannot compare prices, seek alternatives, or question a number printed on a box while receiving care, with the MRP itself often fixed upstream by manufacturers and distributors, disconnected from the trade price by a wide, unexplained margin.
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According to Mundhe, the regulatory gap is structural: scheduled medicines are price-capped under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013, but most medical devices and consumables fall outside this framework, leaving both pricing and the information around it almost entirely unmonitored.
Mundhe said a review of these findings, along with clear guidelines on the permissible gap between trade procurement price and declared MRP, has been recommended to the Department of Pharmaceuticals and the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA).
He described this as a step towards closing not just the pricing gap, but the information gap patients are left to bear alone.
The findings add to a string of enforcement actions and public interventions by Mundhe on pricing and quality standards in Maharashtra's healthcare and pharmaceutical sector, an area that has increasingly come under scrutiny amid rising out-of-pocket healthcare costs for patients across the state.
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