New Delhi: Prices of 348 medicines, including life-saving drugs, will be cheaper soon by up to 80 per cent as the new Drug Price Control Order has come into effect. Industry experts said the implementation of the new drug policy will lead to slashing of prices of many anti-cancer and anti-infective drugs by 50-80 per cent.
According to the website of Department of Pharmaceuticals, the government has notified that the Drug Prices Control Order (DPCO), 2013, with effect from May 15, replacing the 1995 order. The new order will give power to the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Policy (NPPP) 2012 to regulate prices of 348 essential drugs. Drug Prices Control Order 1995 regulated prices of only 74 bulk drugs.
The NPPP 2012 was approved by the Cabinet on November 22, 2012 and later it was notified on December 7, 2012. As per the new drugs policy, all strengths and dosages specified in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) 2011 will be under price control. According to the approved policy, prices of medicines will now be capped by taking simple average of all brands which have more than one per cent market share instead of input costs.
The DPCO 2013, issued under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, will lay the framework of the drug policy and mechanism of regulating prices. According to it, the National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Authority (NPPA) will be the implementation authority for the new policy and the new DPCO....
08:00 AM, May 17, 2013
Mumbai: Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd shares were down over 1 per cent in early trade on Tuesday after the generic drugmaker pleaded guilty to US felony charges related to drug safety and will pay $500 million in civil and criminal fines. The settlement is its largest-ever with a generic drugmaker over drug safety, according to the US government. Ranbaxy USA pleaded guilty to three felony counts related to the manufacture of...
10:13 AM, May 14, 2013
New Delhi: Generic drugmaker Ranbaxy has been fined $500 million by the US government after its subsidiary pleaded guilty to sale of adulterated drugs manufactured in India. It is the largest settlement by a generic medicine maker till date. It includes $150 million in payments for a criminal fine and forfeiture and $350 million in payments for civil claims. The adulterated drugs were made in Ranbaxy's plants in India and...
08:30 AM, May 14, 2013
Bhubaneswar: Opposition BJP in Odisha on Friday demanded resignation of state finance minister Prasanna Acharya in the wake of a Commission finding fault with the drugs administration for spurious liquor tragedy of February 2012 that claimed 41 lives. "Acharya, who was then the state's health minister should resign from the ministry on moral grounds," BJP state president KV Singhdeo demanded at a media conference Bhubaneswar. Though the then excise minister...
01:30 AM, May 11, 2013
New Delhi: An association of chemist and drug retailers will go on a day-long strike and shut down medical shops on Friday against the "unjustified" policies of the government. The strike is a token one-day strike to protest the reduction in profit margin by 6 per cent according to the new drug policy. The chemists argue that they cannot bear the loss in the current economy. "We have decided to...
06:06 AM, May 10, 2013
Los Angeles: Actress Lindsay Lohan, who has been in an out of jail and rehab centres a couple of times, said she has taken drugs only four or five times. The 26-year-old actress has been on probation since 2007 when she was first caught for drink and driving. "Everyone thinks I've done it so many times. But I've only done it maybe four or five times in my life. And...
11:11 AM, May 06, 2013
Rio de Janerio: Former Chelsea and Portugal playmaker Deco is facing a 30-day automatic suspension after his "B'' sample confirmed a positive test for a diuretic. Deco tested positive for furosemide, a diuretic which can help hide performance-enhancing substances. The test came after Fluminense's 2-0 win over Boavista on March 30. If found guilty by Brazil's sports tribunal, the 35-year Deco faces a suspension of up to two years. Fluminense...
12:21 PM, May 04, 2013
San Jose: President Barack Obama came to Latin America eager to move the region's relationship with the US beyond fighting drugs and organized crime, yet the pervasive problems still trailed him throughout his three-day trip to Mexico and Costa Rica. In the Costa Rican capital on Friday, Obama defended his administration's efforts to stem US demand for drugs that many regional leaders see as a driving factor in their security...
07:30 AM, May 04, 2013
Charlotte: Vijay Singh withdrew from the Wells Fargo Championship because of a sore back Wednesday, one day after the PGA Tour said it would not punish the Fijian for his admission that he used deer antler spray. The tour said on Tuesday the World Anti-Doping Agency informed it that the spray contains only small amounts of a growth hormone factor that is banned under the anti-doping policy. The tour had...
09:11 AM, May 02, 2013
Vijay Singh has been cleared of doping by the PGA Tour despite admitting that he used a spray containing elements of a banned substance. Although he never failed a drugs test, Singh was deemed to have breached golf's rules on doping when he said earlier this year he had used deer antler spray. The spray was found to have contained small extracts of IGF-1, a growth hormone on the World...
10:05 AM, May 01, 2013
New Delhi: Delhi Police on Saturday said they have cracked an "international cartel" of drugs and fake currency dealers, arresting seven Nigerians and a Burmese woman. "The arrested include a Nigerian couple and a pastor, along with four other Nigerians and a Myanmarese woman," said Sanjeev Yadav, deputy commissioner of police (Special Cell). The group was also involved in human trafficking using fake passports, Yadav said. Police recovered 1.450 kg...
05:10 AM, Apr 28, 2013
Stockholm: The list of troubles linked to Justin Bieber's tour of Europe grew again after Swedish police said Thursday they had found drugs and a stun gun on the pop singer's bus. No arrests were made since the bus was empty at the time, Stockholm police spokesman Lars Bystrom told The Associated Press. Police said they decided to act after smelling marijuana coming from inside the bus while it was...
11:48 AM, Apr 26, 2013
The U.S. government filed court documents on Tuesday laying out its case against cyclist Lance Armstrong, who is accused of defrauding the Postal Service by taking millions of dollars in sponsorship money while flouting professional cycling rules by doping. The U.S. Department of Justice said in February it would join a whistleblower lawsuit brought in 2010 by Armstrong's former teammate, Floyd Landis, and on Tuesday filed its formal complaint. Armstrong...
10:07 AM, Apr 24, 2013
Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir government has ordered separate probes by the Crime Branch and the Vigilance Department into the purchase and supply of spurious drugs in the state. These spurious drugs were being administered to patients over the last three years according to reports. A shutdown was observed in the Valley on Saturday in protest. "A detailed probe into the spurious drug 'Amoxicillin Trihydrate', IP batch No PBT-1583, supplied...
09:36 AM, Apr 21, 2013
Chandigarh: The Border Security Force (BSF) in the past two days has seized heroin worth Rs 250 crore in the international market from the Khemkaran sector near Amritsar. On Tuesday 18 kilogram heroin was seized which was worth Rs 90 crore and on Wednesday another 32 kilogram heroin was seized worth Rs 160 crore. This drug haul comes after the massive one in Mohali in which heroin worth Rs 130...
09:27 AM, Apr 17, 2013
New Delhi: Olympic medallist Vijender Singh can heave a sigh of relief after the sports ministry announced on Tuesday that the boxer's samples tested negative for drugs. The boxer was alleged to have consumed recreational drugs with sparring partner Ram Singh. The Beijing Olympics bronze medallist had submitted his blood and urine samples to the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) after being directed by the ministry. "Vijender Singh along with four...
04:17 PM, Apr 16, 2013
Mumbai: South African cricketer Wayne Parnell, out on bail in connection with a 'rave party' case, was on Wednesday questioned for over three hours in a police station in suburban Juhu. Keeping with a Special NDPS Court's order, he arrived at the police station at about 12:30 pm and his questioning lasted for over three hours, an official said. "Parnell's explanation on the questions was recorded," the official, said adding...
11:17 PM, Apr 10, 2013
Fatehgarh Sahib (Punjab): Boxer Ram Singh, arrested in connection with the massive drug haul last month, was on Tuesday remanded in judicial custody till April 23 by a local court. Singh, sparring partner of Olympian Vijender Singh, was produced before the court after expiry of his two-day police remand. He was the 16th accused who was arrested following recovery of 26 kgs of heroin worth over Rs 100 crore from...
08:09 PM, Apr 09, 2013
Steffen Kjaersgaard, a team-mate of Lance Armstrong's at US Postal from 2000-03, will not face sanctions, despite admitting to using performance-enhancing drugs, Norwegian anti-doping authorities said on Monday. The Norwegian admitted doping between 1998 and 2003 at a news conference last October, one day after the International Cycling Union (UCI) confirmed it would not appeal against the stripping of Armstrong's seven Tour de France titles. However, Anti-Doping Norway said in...
06:55 PM, Apr 08, 2013
Mumbai: South African cricket player Wayne Parnell who was a wanted accused to be a part of a 'rave party' during the last Indian Premier League, surrendered before a local court. Parnell was later granted bail for Rs 10,000. He had earlier been shown as a wanted accused in the chargesheet of the case. Last month, the Special NDPS court had given a copy of the chargesheet filed in the...
04:45 PM, Apr 08, 2013
