-The Hindu In 2014, an Indian pharmaceutical company was globally the first to receive approval to market a biosimilar, thereby affordable version, of the breast cancer drug Trastuzumab. Almost immediately, Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, innovator of the drug, filed a suit against the Indian Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to block its sale. The action firmly put their profits ahead of the lives of women with breast cancer. Roche effectively embroiled India’s...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Promptly addressing complaints against hospitals that were allegedly overcharging for stents, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has issued show-cause notices to Max Hospital, Saket (New Delhi), and Nidaan Hospital, Sonipat (Haryana). While the regulator said that the action is based on the findings of its preliminary investigation, both the hospitals denied the charge and maintained that they have "not overcharged a single patient" for stents. On...

-Down to Earth The average cost of drug eluting stent for domestic companies is around Rs 8,000 but it is sold to Patients for Rs 24,000 to Rs 1.5 lakh In a decision that will benefit thousands of people in the country, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has finally put a ceiling on prices of cardiac stent—a small mesh tube that's used to treat narrow or weak arteries. Cardiac stents...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: India's government-funded health insurance schemes have increased Patients' access to hospitalisation but failed to reduce their households' personal out-of-pocket healthcare expenses, the most comprehensive review of the schemes so far has found. The review by public health analysts has found increases ranging from 12 per cent to 244 per cent in hospital-based services across the country since the schemes were launched a decade ago. But there is no...

-The Times of India Indians popped more antidepressants in 2016 than ever before, indicating perhaps that they are now more open to the idea of seeking help for mental health problems. Around 10.6 lakh more prescriptions for anti-depressants were written in 2016 than in 2015, shows data collated by health information agencies. While 3.35 crore prescriptions (for new Patients) were written in 2015, doctors wrote 3.46 crore new prescriptions in 2016....