Hospital consumable mark-ups trigger proposal for price regulation

Maharashtra Food and Drug Administration reportedly found large gaps between procurement prices and printed Maximum Retail Prices in hospitals and sought National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority and Department of Pharmaceuticals intervention to consider price regulation under the Drugs Price Control Order, 2013. The action seeks to extend price regulation beyond scheduled medicines to commonly used hospital consumables. Whether these products can be brought within the DPCO framework, and what pricing mechanism may apply, will depend on action by the competent central authorities.