Wrong to clip drug panel's powers

Two recent decisions made by the NDA government relating to the pricing of drugs in the country have become controversial. One is the withdrawal of the powers of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to fix the prices of non-essential medicines. While the NPPA has the power to regulate the prices of essential drugs, the drug price control order of 2013 had also given it the power to cap the prices of non-essential drugs in public interest in some circumstances. It had used this power to restrict the selling price of 108 drugs which were used in the treatment of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. This was because there were wide variations in the prices of these medicines in the market though they were essentially the same. Drug companies have protested and while their petitions are still being heard in courts, the government has stripped the NPPA of the power to act under the 2013 rules. The NPPA had fixed the prices on the basis of a fair and reasonable formula. The government should have at least waited for the decision of the courts before clipping the NPPA’s wings.  

The government’s decision is being seen as a result of the pressure exerted by drug companies, especially because it came just before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US. It is known that the drug industry is dominated by US multinationals. The  decision to set up a high-level joint working group  on intellectual property rights (IPRs), which was announced during the visit and found place in the joint statement, is another matter of concern. This has been seen as a mechanism which may force India to allow more liberal grant of drug patents for US companies in the country and to weaken the country’s intellectual property regime. The US companies have always complained that India’s IPR laws discriminate against them and violate international laws. But India has maintained that its IPR regime is fully compliant with international laws.  The government has denied that the reference to the IPR regime in the joint statement constitutes any dilution of the country’s position. But the grant of decision-making powers on IPR-related issues to the working group is seen by many as the beginning of an opening for the US to promote the interests of US companies. IPR experts and public spirited bodies like Doctors Without Borders had cautioned India against giving in to US pressure and making concessions in the matter.

India’s decisions and actions on patents and pricing, based on the country’s patent law, have made costly drugs for serious ailments affordable to common people. It should resist pressures for any compromise on them.