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Firms are mandated to change prices of medicines within 45 days of NPPA's notification.
The government regulates prices of all other medicines.
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.
The regulator is now probing 24 hospitals, including Max Hospital in New Delhi and Lilavati in Mumbai, for allegedly overcharging patients for stents
The medical devices, which have been in high demand during the Covid-19 pandemic, will now see a drop in prices, as the earlier margins were up to 709 per cent for some of these products.
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
In May, price growth for drugs was in negative territory at (-)1 per cent
Aneesh Phadnis and Veena Mani find out what the manufacturers and the hospitals have to say.
Even as the Supreme Court had recently dismissed the industry's plea against prices fixed by the regulator and its timely implementation, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has asked companies to pay the overcharged dues with 15 per cent interest.
The government has capped the trade margin on oxygen concentrators at 70 per cent in order to keep in check the price of the much in demand critical life saving component amid the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. The trade margin has been capped at 70 per cent on price to distributor level on oxygen concentrators. In an official release, the chemicals and fertilisers ministry said the decision has been taken in view of the extraordinary circumstances arising due to the pandemic which has resulted in volatility in Maximum Retail Prices (MRP) of oxygen concentrators.
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.
On October 2, a legislature committee wrote letters to the 14 companies, initiating an investigation and seeking details about recent price increases in several generic products available in the American market.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
Dengue has become a major public health concern in India with 289,235 cases reported last year. This year there were 19,447 cases of dengue which resulted in 19 deaths till April 2024.
In a relief to pharma majors, the Delhi high court today held as "illegal and unsustainable" the Centre's decision to put a ceiling on the price of condoms, including the luxury variety.
Apart from Wockhardt, only Biocon manufactures insulin analog indigenously.
A look at the key decisions taken by the Narendra Modi government in its six months.
Indian companies are generating more cash than ever. The net cash flow from listed firms' operations hit a new high of Rs 11.1 trillion in financial year 2023-24 (FY24), crossing the Rs 10-trillion mark for the first time, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) data going back to 1990-91. The FY24 figure represents a 19.3 per cent jump over the previous year, even as quite a few companies are yet to release their numbers.
There may be shortage of drugs till pharmaceutical companies supply new batches with revised MRPs.
The situation is severe in North India as most of the logistics operation was manned by migrant labourers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The problem with manpower is not only in courier and delivery services, but also at a shop level.
To keep price control to a minimum, the government can act in two areas where it has not done so far.
Some of the proposals (for example trade margin calculation for imported medical devices) were not approved by the PMO and were sent back for revisions.
Face NPPA fine for overcharging on anti-asthma drug
Joint Secretary in the health ministry Lav Agarwal said 154 new positive cases of the disease have been reported due to the transit-related history of those who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation. These include 23 new cases from Jammu and Kashmir, 20 from Telengana, 18 from Delhi, 65 from Tamil Nadu, 17 from Andhra Pradesh, nine from Andaman and Nicobar Islands and two from Puducherry.
Infosys, Wipro and HUL among the top losers for the day.
The NPPA letter was issued to GSK on Wednesday.
Roadblocks ahead as these medicines could face new clinical tests, more scrutiny
Top officers across various ministries participate in the meeting that started at 8 pm on Saturday. The meeting is currently underway. The country is currently witnessing a second and more severe wave of the pandemic.
The index is currently trading at 149 per cent of its historical P/B valuation, surpassing its previous peak of 125 per cent made in 2020-21.
Markets recorded their biggest single-day fall since August 1 amid growth concerns in the euro zone.
A probe finds several pharma majors in breach of the law; and in turn they blame the government.
According to a senior government official, the plan is to do "collective bargaining" for certain medical devices and implants by assuring a bulk requirement to the manufacturers. "The requirement for these devices runs into millions. We assure them that the requirement is going to be in bulk. In return, they should offer us better rates," he said.
Here is some interesting information released by the government in response to questions posed by MPs in Parliament on Tuesday.
The government plans to rationalise trade margins for many other medical devices, besides stents and knee implants.
A recent report has suggested that future patent expires in the cardiac and anti-diabetes space would form a good opportunity for smaller firms, given their franchise in these segments.
In a surprise announcement in April, Sun and Ranbaxy -- at that time owned by Japan's Daiichi -- declared an all-stock deal to create India's largest and world's fifth-largest drugmaker in an over $4 billion deal.
Markets recovered in late trades, amid firm European cues, led by rebound in financials and gains in IT shares.
I got to know that every referred case for angiography and angioplasty got a kickback of Rs 5,000 and Rs 15,000 respectively. Seeing this trend, doctors started paying referring doctors Rs 1 lakh in advance and adjusting it as and when patients came in. This menace slowly spread its tentacles all over the medical field, including radiological diagnostics and biochemistry laboratories. For every test ordered, 20 per cent of the bill was given back to the referring doctor. This led to doctors recommending unnecessary tests. The pharmaceutical companies also saw burgeoning business. Acclaimed doctors were given televisions sets, refrigerators, air conditioners and cars depending upon the prescriptions. General practitioners would prescribe unnecessary drugs, and were given returns in cash. A fascinating excerpt from Dr Upendra Kaul's When The Heart Speaks.
The government's agenda also includes the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
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