-The Hindu Business Line Public procurement at a negotiated price is a better option. Price curbs deter producers and don’t check pharmacy margins The Government’s attempt to keep the prices of essential medicines affordable and curb the extraordinary returns earned by private healthcare providers through price controls has started an inexorable process whose end does not seem in sight. Will these moves eventually be counter-productive? First came the move to extend the scope...

-The Times of India In a first for a medical device, the public interest provision in the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) 2013 was used by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority to cap the price of knee implants. The NPPA cited "exorbitant prices being charged from patients in a non-regulated market" and "a failed market system where asymmetry of information between patient and the doctor has resulted into unethical practices and...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: Over 200 cancer drugs, 186 medicines to treat cardiovascular diseases and 148 stents and Cardiac implants will now be available at central government hospitals at prices 50-60% lower than the open market. The health ministry has launched a programme called AMRIT (Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment), under which the government will run pharmacy retail stores to sell medicines in hospitals like All India Institute...

-The Times of India MUMBAI: Faced with complaints of overpricing of medical devices like cardiac stents and implants, the government seems to be finally getting its act together. According to a government official, in a string of measures to regulate the industry under the Draft National Medical Device Policy, it has recommended creating an autonomous body — the National Medical Devices Authority (NDMA) — pricing control for medical devices by including them...