Unpaid arrears threaten cardiac care in govt hospitals in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: For cardiac patients depending on govt hospitals, time could soon be running out. Angioplasty procedures in 21 state hospitals may grind to a halt as distributors have threatened to stop stent supplies over unpaid dues of Rs 158 crore. With arrears pending for nearly one-and-a-half years, the Chamber of Distributors of Medical Implants and Disposables (CDMID) said it could no longer keep hospitals stocked.The finance and health ministers conducted a discussion with the distributors on Aug 1 and promised a partial payment before the end of the month. "We were assured that we would receive some payment in Aug 2025, but we have not got anything from any govt hospital or medical college hospital. We have reached a stage where we can't pay for more stocks, and all distributors across Kerala are running out of stock of guide wires, guide catheters, PTCA balloons and coronary stents," chamber Secretary P K Nidheesh said. The Kozhikode medical college hospital, from where the average billing for stents in a month is Rs 3 crore, has the highest arrears of Rs 34.90 crore to date. It is estimated that the highest number of angioplasty procedures are done there, followed by Thiruvananthapuram. The Thiruvananthapuram medical college hospital has run up dues of Rs 29.56 crore, followed by Kottayam medical college hospital (Rs 21.74 crore), Pariyaram medical college hospital (Rs 13.96 crore), Ernakulam general hospital (Rs 13.74 crore) and Alappuzha medical college hospital (Rs 12.24 crore). Nidheesh said they were forced not to replenish the consignment stock in all govt centres from Sept 1. "All purchase orders for accessories will also be difficult for us to honour as the stock available is negligible," he said. At present, the state has 40 distributors supplying the surgical implants for angioplasty procedures to govt hospitals, who procure them by paying an advance amount to suppliers. The existing stock in hospitals will be exhausted in a week's time. The principal of Kozhikode medical college hospital has already written to the govt that they could not perform angioplasties "due to scarcity of coronary hardware". "This is not the first time we are serving an ultimatum to the govt. Every time we come up with a warning, the govt offers a partial payment to pacify us. However, this time, we will not go back, as we need at least Rs 100 crore. Else, we will be forced to shut down our operations in the state," another chamber representative said.