-Livemint.com Govt plans to?help firms revamp manufacturing units,?refurbish machinery,?ensure subsidized power in bid to produce drugs such as penicillin at competitive rates New Delhi: The Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), during a meeting on Wednesday, urged pharma companies to strive for self-sufficiency in critical drugs like penicillin, rifampicin and insulin, in a sign of government concern over India’s dependence on Chinese imports. A large number of so-called active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), or bulk drugs,...

-PTI The government has formed a committee in its bid to make drugs more affordable in the country, Parliament was informed on Tuesday. “Government has constituted a committee of joint secretaries for ensuring enhanced affordability, availability and accessibility of drugs for the citizens,” Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Mansukh L. Mandaviya said in a written reply to Lok Sabha. Elaborating on the terms of reference of the committee, the minister said...

-The Hindu Business Line Policymaking has sensibly shifted away from banning the prescription of brand names More than three months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi fired the salvo on getting doctors to prescribe medicines using their generic names, the discussion seems to be on a slow burner. From the strident position that all doctors will have to prescribe medicines using their generic or chemical names, there appears to be a more reconciled acceptance...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: India's drug pricing rules allow companies to inflate the maximum retail prices of medicines, including life-saving drugs, costing patients thousands of additional rupees while offering slices of the profits to stockists, chemists, and hospitals. Quotations received by hospitals from drug companies' representatives offering discounts on maximum retail prices (MRPs) of medicines provide what some doctors and patients' rights advocates say is fresh evidence for excessive profiteering in India's...

-The Hindu Doctors’ objections to prescribing medicines by generic names fly in the face of a recent report on substandard drugs In a surprise move on April 17, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that his government will soon make it mandatory for doctors to prescribe medicines by generic names. The decision was to ensure drug prices remain affordable and patients get a wider bouquet of options instead of being forced to...