Kerala’s government hospitals are going into a crisis as the suppliers of critical cardiac devices have halted their supply due to pending arrears.
The Chamber of Distributors for Medical Implants and Disposables, an association of suppliers, decided to halt the supply of stents, guide wires, catheters, and PTCA balloons after sending multiple letters to the state government.
According to the distributors, ₹41.34 crore was pending up to June 2024, while an additional ₹117.34 crore has accumulated in the last 14 months. Kozhikode Medical College Hospital tops the list of unpaid bills; ₹34.9 crore has to be paid to the distributors. It is closely followed by Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, which has ₹29.5 crore in dues.
In the first week of August, the representatives of the distributors met the private secretary of the health minister and submitted their representation to him. “He assured us that he was aware of the situation, and since we had been updating him regularly, he indicated that some action would be taken in August,” said a representative of CDMID. “However, to date, nothing has happened. This has now put us in a situation where we don’t have stocks to supply.”
On August 30, the distributors sent another letter saying that from September 1 onwards, they won't be able to replenish the stocks. According to the distributors, they have reached a stage where they are unable to pay the principal suppliers to get stocks. They also note that distributors across Kerala are running out of stock of guide wires, catheters, PTCA balloons, and coronary stents.
Recently, in a letter to the principal of Kozhikode Medical College, cardiology HOD Dr. Rajesh G. warned about the severe shortage of essentials required for cardiac surgeries.
With pending arrears of nearly ₹158.7 crore, all government hospitals, including medical colleges, are going into a crisis if the government does not act immediately. Notably, the government also has pending arrears from the last financial year for invoices under the KASP, KBF, and MEDISEP schemes. The distributors say that if the government does not at least partially cover the arrears, they won’t be able to restart their supply.
The Kerala Medical Services Corporation Limited (KMSCL), a state-owned company responsible for procuring essential drugs and equipment for public healthcare institutions in Kerala, is also facing significant issues with payment arrears to pharmaceutical companies and suppliers. The arrears have significantly increased over time, rising from ₹6.93 crore in the 2020–21 financial year to ₹383.26 crore in 2024–25, which indicates a growing financial strain on KMSCL. KMSCL reportedly owes more than ₹600 crore to pharma companies, and there are indications that the number of companies expressing interest in supplying medicines to Kerala is declining. A decline in interested parties could drive up medicine prices.