OneWorld.net (U.S.)

An effort to regulate drug prices, through measures “other than price control”, has been wasted. A task force set up as per Supreme Court recommendations to find ways to reduce prices of life-saving drugs, could not come up with many viable solutions. The task force had representatives from the Planning Commission, Union ministry of health and family welfare (MOHFW) and ministry of chemicals and fertilisers (MOCF). It recently submitted its recommendations to MOCF’s department of chemicals and petrochemicals.

Which drugs to regulate? A major suggestion is to use the national list of essential medicines as a basis for selecting the drugs whose prices need to be regulated, not controlled. Though the existing Drug Price Control Order (dpco) of the mohfw puts out a list of drugs under price control, policy changes have cut down their numbers in the last few years. As per the Drug Policy, 1994, the list had 76 drugs. In February, the government announced the Pharmaceutical Policy, which, if implemented, would have brought the number down to around 30. To stop its implementation, a consumer filed a public interest petition in the sc. At present prices of 71 drugs are controlled.

Click here for full story