MUMBAI (Reuters) - India has withdrawn the drug pricing authority's powers that allowed it to fix the prices of medicines not deemed essential, after its decision to impose price caps on more than 100 drugs in July triggered industry protests.
The Department of Pharmaceuticals has withdrawn guidelines issued on May 29 that gave the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) the powers to fix the prices of drugs that are not on the essential medicines list, the latter said in a notice late on Monday.
The Department of Pharmaceuticals, under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, directly controls the NPPA.
The NPPA had issued a notice in July imposing price caps on 108 non-essential drugs, which are used to treat diseases ranging from diabetes to HIV/AIDS. The move has been challenged by the industry lobby groups in courts.
(Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui in Mumbai; Editing by Prateek Chatterjee)
