-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Delhi government is likely to come out with a policy to cap profit margins for hospitals this week. A first for any state, the policy will cover sale of medicines, consumables and devices to patients. The state government had appointed a nine-member committee in December last year to suggest the scope and process of capping prices. The move followed public outrage on the death of...
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The tightrope walk of India's drug-price regulator -Anuj Gupta
-The Economic Times The genesis: The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) was set up to implement the 1995 Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) and monitor overcharging of drugs and medical devices When: August 29, 1997 Total number of chairmen: 11 What the chairman has to deliver: * Implement and enforce the provisions of the DPCO * Render advice to the central government on drug pricing Highlights of the chairmen's tenures * Between 2001 and 2004, five chairmen were...
More »Transfer of NPPA head who capped stent, implant prices sparks protests
-The Times of India The transfer of the chairman of the National Pharmceutical Pricing Authority, Bhupendra Singh, who had capped the price of stents and knee implants and exposed the huge margins being charged by corporate hospitals has evoked howls of protest from public health activists. RSS-affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch too has taken exception to the move, tweeting sarcastically about the “reward” given to a bureaucrat for doing a good job. The All...
More »Cardiac stent price cap lowered further to Rs 28,000 -Rema Nagarajan
-The Times of India The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority on Monday revised the price of drug eluting stents (DES) downwards by about Rs 2,300 to just under Rs 28,000, while marginally raising the cap on bare metal stents from Rs 7,400 to Rs 7,660. These caps are excluding GST. With DES accounting for about 95% of all stents used in India, this means most stents will become cheaper. The authority, which had...
More »Slack food safety could be risking public health: CAG -Zia Haq
-Hindustan Times Audit report says most food testing labs in country are ill-equipped. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), India’s constitutionally mandated federal auditor, has cited serious lapses in enforcing food-safety norms in the country, which, it said, could be putting public health at risk. A majority of the country’s food-testing laboratories were poorly managed, the report said. It found that 65 of the 72 state-wide food laboratories were not accredited to the...
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