After Cipla, Sun Pharma has also received interim relief from the Delhi High Court in a case related to implementation of the Drug Price Control Order 2013. According to a legal source, the company has been allowed to sell its existing supplies, provided it gives its distributors a list of the revised medicine prices.
Drug companies were to change their labels to reflect the new prices, 45 days from when the revised price list was notified. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority is the implementing authority of the DPCO.
Companies and drug associations had approached the Court individually, seeking clarity on implementation of the order, as the 45 day-deadline for the first list of 151 medicines whose prices were revised as part of the new drug policy and the DPCO, lapsed on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Court also extended the interim relief given to Cipla till the next hearing on the case comes up, later next month. The case filed by the Confederation of Indian Pharmaceuticals Industry at the Delhi High Court, on the same issue, also comes up for hearing next month.
On their part, companies say that medicines manufactured after the date of notification would show the revised ceiling price. However, it was not be possible for them to recall existing stock supplied into the distribution channels and change their prices.
As a result of the confusion prevailing in the market, consumers will have to wait longer for the reduced prices on some medicines to become a reality.