Thiruvananthapuram: Over 50-odd drug companies have urged state government to convey their strong reservations to Centre over frequent notifications on drug price fixation and revision. The frequency with which National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) was issuing notification on revised rates for medicines, it is becoming difficult to comply with the changes in such a short period of time. They have urged that a minimum of 30 days gap should be there between notifications to avoid drug shortage in the market and losses to retailers and distributors.
During the meeting held here on Monday, the representatives of the companies pointed to the back to back notifications issued by NPPA fixing and revising ceiling prices of drugs. The NPPA had warned manufacturers that if they fail to comply with the ceiling price, they would be would be liable to deposit the overcharged amount along with the interest on it as per the provisions of Drugs (Price Control ) Order 2013.
The company representatives pointed out that the NPPA had issued notifications revising and fixing prices at least five times during the last month. It had issued notification on June 2 and 3, then on June 23 and 24 covering nearly 100 essential drugs. These included medicines for treating cancer, infections including cold and allergy, epilepsy, gastrointestinal disorders, tumours, fungal infections and immune suppressants. According to manufacturers it was difficult to comply with NPPA direction especially because of paucity of time. A minimum gap of 30 days was required to streamline pricing issues.
