NPPA, the government regulator of the pharmaceutical sector, has taken a big decision. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority or NPPA, which monitors the prices of medicines, has fixed the retail prices of 84 medicines. These medicines include medicines for diabetes, headache and high blood pressure.
Once the prices of medicines are fixed, the pharma companies will not be able to increase the prices of their own free will. These medicines will be sold at a fixed rate only. With this, customers will get medicines at cheaper rates. Other drugs whose prices have been fixed include drugs that lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
NPPA has fixed the prices of medicines by taking recourse to the 'Drugs (Price Control) Order, 2013'. In a notification, information has been given about the order to fix the prices of medicines. As per the order, the cost of one tablet of Voglibose and (SR) Metformin Hydrochloride will be Rs 10.47 excluding GST. Similarly, the price of Paracetamol and Caffeine has been fixed at Rs 2.88 per tablet. Apart from this, the cost of one Rosuvastatin Aspirin and Clopidogrel Capsule has been fixed at Rs. 13.91.
In a separate notification, NPPA said that it has increased the revised ceiling price of Liquid Medical Oxygen and Oxygen Inhalation (Medicated Gas) till September 30 this year. NPPA is empowered to fix or modify the prices of bulk drugs and formulations and to enforce the prices and availability of medicines in the country. NPPA also monitors the prices of medicines over which the government has no control so that they can be kept at the right level. NPPA enforces the provisions of the Drugs (Price Control) Order. NPPA can recover money from those pharma companies which companies charge more money from the customers.
What is the work of NPPA?
There is a prescribed law for fixing the prices of medicines. A list has been prepared by the government which is called the National List of Essential Medicines or NLEM. This list includes those medicines which are very important to saving lives. Pharma companies do not increase the price of these medicines on their own so that the game of unaccounted profits does not play out so that the prices of the medicines coming on the list are fixed. The government has constituted the drug regulator NPPA for this. This NPPA issues orders to increase or decrease the prices of medicines included in the NLEM list.
Right now an order has been issued to reduce the prices of some medicines, whereas in April this year, the NPPA had increased the rates of many medicines by about 11 per cent. Due to this many essential medicines became expensive. These medicines also include essential and life-saving medicines.
Looking at the wholesale price index of medicines, the rate of medicines was increased by 10.7 per cent, which increased the rates of about 800 drugs. Every year, the NPPA announces changes in the Wholesale Price Index as per the Drugs (Price Control) Order, 2013 or DPCO, 2013. The NPPA fixes the maximum price of about 886 essential drugs and medical equipment.