-The Hindu Business Line MUMBAI: The government on Monday constituted a standing committee headed by Niti Aayog to oversee the drug pricing regime, a move which could clip the powers of drug pricing regulator, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA). The Standing Committee on Affordable Medicines and Health Products will be headed by NITI Aayog member (health), and includes chief economic adviser, besides secretary department of health research, director general of health...

-The New Indian Express In a major relief to in-patients, the Kerala High Court on Friday said medicines, implants and other materials used during procedures at hospitals do not constitute sale and sales tax cannot be levied KOCHI: Medical bills in hospitals across the country are skyrocketing, but Kerala may see a downward trend. In a major relief to in-patients, the Kerala High Court on Friday said medicines, implants and other...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The health ministry was actively mulling compulsory licensing, apart from price capping, of “orphan drugs” (for rare diseases), when the department of pharmaceuticals abruptly issued an order exempting such medicines from price control, derailing plans to make these Drugs affordable. The health ministry discussed price capping and invoking compulsory licence for these “exorbitantly” priced “orphan drugs” at a meeting on January 3, the day when DoP...

-The Hindu Study raises safety, efficacy concerns; call for ban of irrational formulations Of the 110 anti-TB (tuberculosis) Fixed Dose Combinations (FDCs) available in India, only 32 (less than 30%) have been approved by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), the country’s drug regulator. In the case of malaria FDCs, only eight out of 20 (40%), have been approved. These statistics, that give rise to safety and efficacy concerns, have been brought...

-The Indian Express NITI Aayog meeting notes it will bring in ‘more control, curb growth’ New Delhi: Successive governments in India have neglected the medical devices sector. For over 12 years, a proposed legislation, the Medical Device Regulation Bill, has awaited enactment. Advertising The Bill was first drafted in 2006 when the UPA was in power. It was never legislated. Under the NDA, a Group of Ministers (GoM) was constituted under Finance Minister Arun...