Price hike, at last

Govt should not control drug prices

Last week, the government used the Drug Price Control Order, 2013, to increase the price ceiling for 21 formulations or medicines by as much as 50 per cent to ensure their availability in the market. This is a welcome move because lower prices would have further limited the availability of these drugs, some of which include those used for malaria, leprosy and allergy. The decision by the regulatory authority — usually known to reduce prices of essential drugs — was prompted by repeated petitions by the pharmaceutical industry, which pointed out that the increasing cost of imports had made the