Firms that supply a wide range of medical devices to district health boards say state drug-buying agency Pharmac should not be allowed to add the purchase of medical equipment to its responsibilities.
Among wide-ranging recommendations in a report on health, prepared by a ministerial review group, is a proposal that Pharmac buy medical devices, just as it does medicines.
Medical devices include such things as surgical gloves, face masks, knee and hip replacement parts, heart valves, monitoring machines and dental equipment.
But the Medical Industry Association says equipment is not like medicines, though it does see a need to improve the buying processes of district health boards.
