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Parliamentary panel asks NPPA to submit detailed note on 50% price hike on 11 drugs
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Gireesh Babu, New Delhi
December 28 , 2024
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A Parliamentary panel has sought the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to submit a detailed note on the recent decision by the government to increase the prices on 11 drug formulations by 50 per cent.
The drug pricing authority has approved a 50 per cent increase in ceiling prices of 11 formulations of eight drugs in mid-October, 2024, invoking extraordinary powers in public interest to ensure availability of essential drugs.
These drugs are used for treatment of asthma, glaucoma, thalassemia, tuberculosis, mental health disorders, etc and are part of first-line of treatment crucial to the public health programmes of the country.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilisers in its fifth report on the Demands for Grants of the DoP for the fiscal year 2024-25 submitted in the Lok Sabha during the current session, opined, "Admittedly, this was done in response to several applications requesting on price rise to accommodate rising production cost over the years."
With serious concern that in the face of apparent increasing prices of medicines affecting the whole nation, particularly hard hitting the poorest of the poor, it observed that the NPPA, which has the ambit of monitoring and enforcement of pricing of medicine, have allowed this situation to prevail.
"The Committee, therefore, desires a detailed note to be furnished on this price hike," said the panel.
Formulations for which ceiling prices has been revised include: Benzyl penicillin 10 lakh IU injection; Atropine injection 06.mg/ml; Streptomycin powder for injection 750 mg and 1000 mg; Salbutamol tablet 2 mg and 4 mg and respirator solution 5 mg/ml; Pilocarpine 2% drops; Cefadroxil tablet 500 mg, Desferrioxamine 500 mg for injection; and Lithium tablets 300 mg.
The NPPA's order was following requests from the manufacturers for upward revision owing to increase in cost of raw materials, cost of production and other expenses resulting in unviability in sustainable production and marketing of these drugs. Companies have also applied for discontinuation of some of the formulations on account of their unviability, said the Authority while announcing the price hike in October.
An Inter-Ministerial Committee formed by the Authority a few years back on April 5, 2024 recommended price revision for the formulations.
The Authority noted that the formulations recommended by the Committee for upward price revision are mostly low-priced scheduled formulations and have been under repeated price control, but are generally used as first line of treatment and are important to address the public health needs of the country.
"Further, the mandate of NPPA is to ensure availability of drugs at affordable prices. While ensuring affordability, access cannot be jeopardised and the life-saving essential drugs must remain available to the general public at all times," observed the Authority.
"Therefore, unviability of these formulations should not lead to a situation where these drugs become unavailable in the market and the public is forced to switch to expensive alternatives," it added.
The order was issued invoking the Para 19 of Drugs Prices Control Order, 2013, which gives powers to the Centre to fix the ceiling price or retail price of a drug in case of extraordinary circumstances, if it considers necessary to do so in public interest.
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