Calcutta, May 31: Anirban Banerjee, 63, was advised a permanent pacemaker implant (PPI) by a city-based doctor last week.

Banerjee knew that undergoing a PPI implant at a state- run hospital would cost him a little over Rs 45,000, and accordingly. he opted to visit SSKM Hospital.

On Saturday, he was surprised to find a circular pasted on the walls of the hospital’s cardiology department, which said pacemaker implants would cost a person anything between Rs 47,000 and Rs 1.5 lakh

Calcuttans heading for state-run hospitals for PPIs for Rs 45,000 are in for a rude shock. The rates have been revised, following a court order.

Last year, the government had fixed Rs 45,000 as the minimum rate for a PPI and identified four manufacturers of pacemakers to supply the gadgets to all state-run hospitals, after they invited tenders.

Accordingly, the companies started supplying pacemakers at the mentioned price.

However, a fifth company, based in Mumbai, which, too, hoped to supply pacemakers at affordable rates, decided to move court on grounds of discrimination.

The company claimed that despite quoting the lowest price, its requests were turned down by the health department. Calcutta High Court, after hearing arguments from all parties, decided to cancel the government tender.

In his order, Justice Barin Ghosh observed that it was the prerogative of a patient to choose the quality of a pacemaker to be implanted in his body.

According to the government circular, the prices of the pacemakers will vary from a minimum quoted price of Rs 47,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh.

In Calcutta on an average, nearly 2,000 PPIs are conducted in a year in prominent hospitals.

At the state-run SSKM Hospital, 650to 700 of the implants are conducted, making it the largest PPI hospital in all of south-east Asia. “We have decided to display the court order prominently to avoid confusion among patients seeking PPIs at the earlier rates,” said SSKM superintendent Santanu Tripathi.