The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), which monitors the prices of medicines, has revised the prices of 128 antibiotic and antiviral drugs. NPPA issued a notification informing about the maximum prices fixed for these medicines.
These include antibiotic injections of amoxicillin and clavulanic acid, vancomycin, salbutamol used in asthma, cancer drug trastuzumab, pain reliever ibuprofen and paracetamol given in fever.
One tablet of Cetirizine Rs 1.68
According to the notification, the price of one capsule of Amoxicillin has been fixed at Rs 2.18, while one tablet of Cetirizine will cost Rs 1.68. On the other hand, a 400 mg tablet of Ibufen can be sold at a maximum price of Rs.1.07.
Drugs will have to be sold at the fixed price’
The authority said, ‘All the companies manufacturing drug combination drugs included in this notification will have to sell their products at the price fixed by the government (GST extra). Any companies which were selling their medicines at a price higher than the prescribed price, they will have to cut the price.
Diabetes drug price also fixed
NPPA has also fixed retail prices of 12 notified formulations under the Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO), 2013. The price for a tablet containing Glimepiride, Voglibose and Metformin combination given to diabetics has been fixed at Rs 13.83.
The cost of one tablet of Paracetamol is Rs 2.76.
Similarly, the retail price of one tablet of Paracetamol, Phenylephrine Hydrochloride, Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride and Caffeine has been kept at Rs 2.76. NPPA, established in the year 1997, besides fixing and revising the prices of pharmaceutical products, works to implement the provisions of DPCO and monitor the prices of controlled drugs.
