The government has brought 39 more drugs, including the durgs to treat diseases such as diabetes and digestive disorders, under price control as part of its efforts to make medicines affordable in the country. As per the notification of National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, NPPA , the prices of formulations including Ciprofloxacin Hydrochloride, Cefotaxime, Paracetamol, Domperidone and Metformin+Glimepiride have been fixed. The new medicines are the latest additions to the price control list, which covers over 500 drugs.
Earlier in May, NPPA had capped the prices of 30 formulation packs, including those used to treat diseases such as tuberculosis and asthma. At present, the government caps prices of essential drugs based on the simple average of all medicines in a particular therapeutic segment with sales of more than 1 per cent. In other cases, companies are allowed to hike prices by only up to 10 per cent in a year.