Cost of pacemaker surgeries to go down by 5-10%

LUCKNOW: People needing a pacemaker device to restore functioning of the heart will have to pay 5-10% lesser than before with the Union government exempting specific materials used in the manufacture of pacemakers.

More than 1,500 surgeries to implant a pacemaker take place in Lucknow annually and the number would double for the state. Pacemakers are used in patients whose cardiac rhythm is abnormal.

“This device costs anything between Rs 45,000 and Rs 1.5 lakh and a 5% dip in cost would mean saving Rs 2,250-Rs 7,500,” said industry experts. The other type ranges between Rs 2.75 lakh and Rs 3 lakh. The head of Lari Cardiology in King George’s Medical University, Prof RK Saran, said, “This is surely in patient interest but awareness initiatives about arrhythmia should be undertaken as less than 20% patients needing pacemakers are able to reach doctors.”

Speaking on behalf of the UP chapter of Cardiological Society of India, Prof PK Goel said, “The move would also promote local manufacturing of pacemakers. Maintaining the quality of the indigenously made pacemakers was a very crucial issue to be tackled.”

City based intervention cardiologist Dr Nakul Sinha, however, said the move might not benefit many people as a majority of patients use the imported version of pacemakers because of their extremely low rate of failure.