After stents and knee implants, the Government is now planning to put a price cap on non-essential drugs. Under draft amendment, the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) aims to bring non-scheduled drugs under price control by changing the price setting method. The proposal by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) and the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) suggests that scrapping the current method of fixing the ceiling price of drugs on the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM).
Under the new proposal, if a company is launching a new drug the regulator will fix the ceiling price of the drug. Under the draft amendment, this will be based on the price applied by the manufacturer that takes a lead in seeking approval for the new drug. Source: Times of India
