COVID-19: SC asks Centre to consider fixing ceiling price for drugs
The court said it has been informed by the Centre that NPPA has revised the maximum retail price of Remdesivir to Rs 3,500.
BusinessToday.In | May 3, 2021 | Updated 01:22 IST
The court said the Centre can consider invoking its statutory powers under the Drugs Price Control Order.
The Supreme Court on Sunday asked the Centre to consider fixing ceiling price for drugs like Favipiravir, Tociluzumab, among others, used for treatment of COVID-19 patients as they are being sold at exorbiant rates.
The court said it has been informed by the Centre that the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has revised the maximum retail price of Remdesivir, an anti-viral drug used in COVID-19 treatment, to Rs 3,500. However, it has come to our notice that several other drugs which are being prescribed by doctors for treating COVID-19 patients like Favipiravir, Tociluzumab, Enoxaparin, Ivermectin, Methylprednisolone, P
Amid the second wave of the pandemic sweeping across the country, an oxygen concentrator that normally costs about Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 is now being sold for a whopping Rs 1.5 lakh.
It is a device that sucks oxygen from the atmosphere and delivers it to a person suffering from respiratory illness. It is a life-saving instrument meant for home use by those Covid-19 patients whose oxygen saturation dips below 80 mm Hg.
While the demand for oxygen concentrators has gone through the roof, oximeters, that indicate the level of oxygen in an individual’s body, are out of stock in most medical stores. Those who have stock, are selling it at a price between Rs 1,800 to Rs 3,000 which is about three to four times the MRP of the device.
India To Import 4.5 Lakh Remdesivir Vials Amid Rising Demand For Antiviral Drug
by Swarajya Staff - May 1, 2021 06:32 AM
Remdesivir
The Government of India has started importing the vital drug Remdesivir from other countries to ease out the shortage of Remdesivir in the country. The first Consignment of 75,000 vials reached India on Friday (30 April).
HLL Lifecare Ltd, a Government of India owned company has ordered 4,50,000 vials of Remdesivir from M/s Gilead Sciences Inc USA and Egyptian Pharma Company, M/s Eva Pharma.
It is expected that Gilead Sciences Inc, USA will dispatch 75,000 to 1,00,000 vials in the next one or two days. Further one lakh quantities will also be supplied before or by 15 May. EVA pharma will supply approximately 10,000 vials initially followed by 50,000 vials every 15 days or till July, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers said in a statement.
Remdesivir to be administered on medical prescription to severe COVID-19 patients : Centre to SC
A bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud was informed that there is a growing demand from some quarters to permit the use of Remdesivir even when a person is taking treatment at his own home.
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NEW DELHI: Antiviral drug Remdesivir is to be administered only after a medical prescription and limited to severe condition of COVID-19 patients strictly as per medical protocol, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Friday.
A bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud was informed that there is a growing demand from some quarters to permit the use of Remdesivir even when a person is taking treatment at his own home under his own private medical supervision.
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NEW DELHI: The Centre on Friday said it has asked the states to treat the available oxygen as a critical commodity and undertake an oxygen-consumption audit at all hospitals, including private ones, amid a shortage of the life-saving gas in several parts of the country.
Addressing a press conference, joint secretary in the ministry of health and family welfare Lav Agrawal said from the start of the pandemic, the government had identified oxygen-supported beds as major clinical interventions.
He said the government had procured 1,02,400 oxygen cylinders at the national level in April-May 2020 and distributed those among the states.