The Supreme Court expressed dissatisfaction with the Centre's cap on anti-cancer drug trade margins, questioning why similar controls aren't applied to other medicines. The court highlighted significant markups on common drugs and medical devices, urging the government to expand its price regulation efforts and present modalities by October 27.
'While higher prices may create some financial burden for patients and caregivers in the short term, uninterrupted access to treatment remains the greater priority.'
The Supreme Court has questioned the Centre's decision to cap trade margins on anti-cancer drugs at 30 per cent, asking why similar restrictions could not be extended to other medicines and medical consumables, citing glaring disparities between procurement costs and maximum retail prices (MRPs).
The Supreme Court has strongly criticised the exorbitant markup on cancer drugs by hospitals, calling it "carnage" and "broad daylight dacoity." The court highlighted a case where a cancer drug was marked up ten times its retail price and urged the Centre to implement a uniform 16% margin on all medicines. It also raised concerns about hospitals forcing patients to buy medicines from their in-house chemists.
The directive comes amid concerns over steep mark-ups on medicines and medical consumables sold at hospital pharmacies.
It will bring 348 essential drugs under price control.
Replying to supplementaries during Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, minister of state for chemicals and fertilisers Srikant Jena said the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has been asked to look into demands for bringing 23 anti-cancer drugs within the ambit of price control.
US President Donald Trump's plan to sign an executive order to cut prescription drug prices by 30-80 per cent could lead to a global price adjustment with pharma firms pushing lower-cost countries like India to raise prices, according to the economic think tank GTRI. The US move could push prices in lower-cost countries like India as manufacturers would seek to recover losses and R&D costs from these nations.
For the poorest 20 per cent of Indians, the expenditure on medicines alone is 85 per cent of what they spend on their health, according to the National Sample Survey.
The government has been stringent with pricing changes. Prices of 651 essential medicines came down from April 1, 2023 by 6.73 per cent with the government capping ceiling prices of these drugs.
The industry feels that prices of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) can go up in the range of 5-15 per cent.
Povidone iodine ointment and solutions are available in the market under various popular brands such as Betadine and Wokadine.
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The move is expected to delay the introduction of low-priced medicines in the market.
With these 18 drugs, the government now has brought in 467 medicines under the price control.
Donald Trump announced a landmark agreement with Venezuela, claiming it to be the 'biggest oil deal in world history'. The deal reportedly grants the US majority control over more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuela's proven crude oil reserves, aiming to double American oil reserves and lower domestic gasoline prices.
According to highly placed sources in NPPA, the reduction in prices following the latest exercise will range between six and 53 per cent.
The drug pricing regulator on Tuesday said it will fix the ceiling prices of over 300 medicines by the end of this month, a move that will come as a major relief to patients.
Currently, the govt directly caps prices of 348 formulations at the average price of all medicines in a particular segment with at least 1% market share
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal has criticised the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab, alleging a decline in law and order and accusing them of using financial schemes to sway voters ahead of elections.
A coordinated international operation, 'Operation Hard Ball', led to the arrest of 24 alleged members and associates of three India-based criminal syndicates, including the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, across the US, Canada, and Europe.
To ensure equal access to health care, the government must consider it in a holistic manner and improve all parameters.
The profit margins of multinational companies importing medicines into India have been hit with the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority starting strict scrutiny of price approval applications for imported products.
The latest price revision includes mostly cardiovascular drugs, anti-bacterials, anti-herpes, contraceptives and gastrointestinal medicines
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The Drug (Prices Control) Order implemented in May last year brought into its purview 652 packs of 348 formulations.
The government on Tuesday said the steps taken by the national pharmaceutical pricing authority for enforcement of prices fixed by it had resulted in recovery of an overcharged amount of Rs 80.08 crore (Rs 800.8 million) till October this year.
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has revised prices of 440 medicines. Around 300 medicines have seen price cuts, while the others have seen a hike, sources said. The extent of the revisions is not known as yet.
To keep price control to a minimum, the government can act in two areas where it has not done so far.
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Firms are mandated to change prices of medicines within 45 days of NPPA's notification.
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority will soon notify prices of as many as 150 packs of essential medicines in line with the new pharma pricing policy, according to official sources.
There are enough people at the top decision-making level in Tehran who are still willing to negotiate, provided Trump can create the right setting for the negotiation to acquire a dynamic of its own, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The government said that "in exercise of extraordinary powers in public interest, conferred by paragraph 19 of the DPCO, 2013", the ceiling prices of 21 key formulations had been increased. These formulations include common medicines like BCG vaccines, penicillin, malaria and leprosy medicines (Dapsone), life-saving drugs like Furosemide (used to treat fluid build-up due to heart failure, liver scarring, or kidney disease), vitamin C, some common antibiotics, and anti-allergy medicines.
