If the
rising cost of private healthcare wasn't bleeding patients dry already,
the government has now found that top pharmaceutical companies continue
to sell medicines above officially fixed prices
The
pricing anomaly has been caught by National Pharmaceutical Pricing
Authority (NPPA) which has filed 22 cases this year alone, sending out
demand notices that add up to Rs 221.78 crore.
Only Rs 54.23 crore of
this has been recovered from pharmaceutical companies so far.
The NPPA registered 1,040 cases between
1997 and June 2014 against major companies.
Of the total Rs 3603.04
crore of the overcharged amount, interest included, the NPPA has only
been able to recover only Rs 341.11 crore from pharma companies in these
17 years.
Cadila healthcare Ltd was been found to be overpricing Deriphyllin 300
that is used by asthmatics in 2007-08 and slapped with a Rs 11.95 crore
fine. The Govt is yet to recover the money from the company. Cipla earned Rs 184.57 crore by charging extra for Ciplox-TZ in 2007-08. The Govt is yet to recover the money in that case too.
Dr Reddy's Labs has yet to release an amount of Rs 10.71 crore for overpricing Norfloxacin, a popular antibiotic
The NPPA has also been
unable to recover an amount of Rs 79.37 lakh from Glaxo India Limited
for overpricing theophylline-based formulations (Theo-PA Tabs.)
The Drug (Prices Control) Order 2013,
empowers the NPPA to regulate prices of 348 essential drugs. As per the
new DPCO 2013, all strengths and dosages specified in the National List
of Essential Medicines (NLEM) are under price control
Whenever pharmaceutical
companies have been found to be selling some of their medicines to the
consumers at a price higher than the price notified by the NPPA, cases
are registered against such companies.
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