Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers, Shri D.V. Sadananda Gowda, while giving a written reply to a question on check on drug prices in the country, in Lok Sabha today, stated that the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has taken important measures to check the prices of drugs, under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO). He further stated that since its inception till May, 2019, 2033 demand notices have been issued to pharmaceutical companies for overcharging.
The Minister stated that the price fixation measures have resulted in savings to the patients, as tabulated below:
| Particulars | Saving to consumer
(Rs. in Crores) |
| Under NLEM 2011 from May, 2013 to Feb, 2016 | 2,422 |
| Under NLEM 2015 from March, 2016 to till date | 2,644 |
| Cardio vascular and Anti-diabetic medicines | 350 |
| Coronary Stents | 4,547 |
| Knee Implants | 1,500 |
| Anti-Cancer Drugs | 984 |
| TOTAL | 12,447 |
Further, the measures taken by NPPA to keep drug prices in check are as follows:
(i) After inclusion of National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), 2011 in the Schedule-I of DPCO, 2013, NPPA fixed the ceiling prices of 530 scheduled formulations.
(ii) Schedule-I of DPCO, 2013 was amended by adopting NLEM, 2015. Accordingly, NPPA fixed the ceiling prices of 857 scheduled formulations.
(iii) The ceiling prices of Coronary Stent were notified in February, 2017 resulting into reduction in price up to 85%.
(iv) NPPA has fixed the ceiling prices of the Orthopedic Knee Implants in August, 2017 under para 19 of DPCO, 2013, resulting in to reduction in price up to 69%.
(v) NPPA capped the maximum retail price of 106 formulations (anti-diabetic and cardiovascular) under para 19 of DPCO, 2013 in July, 2014.
(vi) Further, NPPA capped the prices of 42 non-scheduled anti-cancer medicines under ‘Trade Margin Rationalization’ approach. Accordingly, MRP of 526 brands of these medicines have shown reduction up to 90%.