The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), which had already revised the prices of over 400 formulations as per the new Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO) 2013, now has come out with a list of 103 formulations for which prices could not be fixed as sufficient information was not available.
Apart from this, the price regulator also announced that it could not fix the prices of eight formulations as the national list of essential medicine list lacked some information like strength, route of administration, dosage form etc. All these formulations were included in the Schedule-1 of DPCO and the agency was expected to fix the prices.
The formulations, for which information were not available, included in the category of local anesthetics, analgesics, antipyretics, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicines, drugs used to treat gout and disease modifying agents used in rheumatoid disorders, antidotes and other substances used in poisonings, anti-infectives, anti-bacterials, antiretroviral medicines, anti-pneumocystosis and anti-toxoplasmosis medicines, and blood products and plasma substitutes, among others.
According to the notification by the NPPA, the formulations included Ether, ketamine hydrochloride, lignocaine hydrochloride, diazepam, tramadol, activated charcoal, atropine sulphate, methylthioninium chloride (methylene blue), penicillamine, dimercaprol, flumazenil, sodium nitrite, sodium thiosulphate, pralidoxime chloride(2-PAM), phenytoin sodium, sodium valproate, anthelminthics, piperazine, isoniazid, nystatin, stavudine, didanosine, efavirenz, nevirapine, indinavir, nelfinavir, ritonavir saquinavir, pyrimethamine, clindamycin , pentamidine isothionate, cyclosporine, actinomycin D, cyclophosphamide, mercaptopurine, ferrous sulphate/fumrate, pyridoxine, dextran-70, fresh frozen plasma, polygeline, cryoprecipitate, factor IX complex (coagulation factors II, VII, IX, X), platelet rich plasma, procainamide hydrochloride, digoxin, urokinase, neomycin + bacitracin, methylrosanilinium chloride (gentian violet), zinc oxide, coal tar, salicylic acid, lignocaine, fluorescein, barium sulphate, calcium ipodate, iopanoic acid, meglumine iothalamate, meglumine iotroxate, propyliodone, sodium meglumine diatrizoate, chlorhexidine, gentian violet, acriflavin+glycerin, bleaching powder, formaldehyde solution, hydrochlorothiazide, dicyclomine hydrochloride, zinc sulfate, ethinylestradiol + norethisterone, hormone releasing IUD, tuberculin, purified protein derivative, pyridostigmine, chloramphenicol, miconazole, povidone iodine, tetracaine, hydrochloride, pilocarpine, phenylephrine, codeine phosphate, dextromethorphan, N/2 saline, potassium chloride, pyridoxine, nicotinamide, and vitamin D (ergocalciferol).