Wholesale and retail druggists in Kozhikode district have been warned against selling medicines at excess rates.
The warning comes close on the heels of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), on June 4, notifying the revised rates of 33 medicines for different treatments including cancer, diabetes and hypertension.
Assistant Drugs Controller P.M. Jayan said that a meeting of registered pharmacists and proprietors of medical stores had been held at the District Collectorate in this regard. They had already been apprised of implementing the revised prices. Stringent action would also be taken against those merchandising the drugs without prescription from medical practitioners, he said.
Mr. Jayan said that the prices of Insulin, Metformin, Omeprazole, Albendazole, Septra (trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole) and Amoxicillin-potassium Clavulanate had been reduced. Shops should not sell the medicines at old rates even if these belonged to old stock. The rate of some common medicines has come down by even Rs.2 per capsule.
“Shops that maintain a computerised system of stocks can easily adapt to the new rules by automatically changing the MRP rates. However, many others, still using the traditional method of issuing receipts, might find the new rules hard as medical shops trade in about 5,000 types of drugs,” he said. Besides, he said, the prices of various types of IV fluids, including sodium chloride and dextrose, had been reduced initially, but now their prices had been hiked. “A major reason cited for the sudden revision is that no pharmaceutical company in Kerala manufacture IV fluids. All have been imported from other States,” Mr. Jayan said. Meanwhile, a meeting of pharmaceutical companies has been called in Kochi on July 4 to discuss the NPPA’s notification, he said.
Difficult situation
However, the price control measures have put medical stores in the State in a difficult situation. “The fluctuations in prices occur several times in a month. Now, the price of a strip of 10 capsules of Amoxicillin has come down to Rs.101. It was oscillating between Rs.156 and Rs.140 earlier. Similarly, the prices of Omeprazole and Cardamazetine are revised often,” Radhakrisha Kurup, a pharmacist said.
The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority
notified the revised rates of 33 medicines on June 4
