The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has launched the first of its kind 'online national registry for cardiac stent'. The on-line national registry is unique in a way that for the first time a medical device national registry provides registration for importer/manufacturer and lab/medical institution, sources in the DRAP said.

The 'supply side' - where importer and manufacturer of cardiac stent will provide their cardiac stent import data including reference of importation, source (manufacturer), spec, lot no, expiry, quantity, rate and amount, will bring a complete transparency, the sources added.

In addition, the importer at the time of sale and supply will provide its sale invoice information with product detail and institution to which these are sold. As per new regulatory frame work for medical devices, under the directive of federal government, about 38 importers have been registered and got their certificates. It may be noted that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) unearthed a fake stent selling scam in Lahore and seized fake stents worth Rs 40 million. A citizen named Khizar Hayat, a resident of Upper Mall Lahore, approached the FIA to register a case against the Lahore Medical Complex. He told the FIA that hospital management charged him the price of original stent but had not provided the promised one.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2017