NMRA issues cancellation notices to five pharmaceutical companies

The NMRA yesterday issued notices of cancellation of registrations and import licenses to five pharmaceutical companies including Hemas Pharmaceuticals and A. Baur (Pvt) Ltd for arbitrarily and unilaterally increasing the retail prices of 10 medicines.

Notices of cancellation have been issued to the following companies under Section 65 of the NMRA Act No 5 of 2015 for violating pricing regulations.

NMRA Legal Officer Pushpamala Hettiarachchi told Daily Mirror these companies had increased prices of medicines during the past few months in violation of the conditions of registration issued by the Authority causing much hardship to patients especially in the background of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.“the punitive action, believed to be the first for violating pricing regulations of medicines, has been taken under powers vested with the Authority to ensure affordability of medicines and availability to the public,” she said.

Among these medicines is a brand (Diltiazem) that has already been gazetted with a maximum retail price.“they have repeatedly increased the price from Rs.40.70 a tablet to Rs.43.70. Once gazetted the price cannot be changed. If they want to increase the price they have to do so after discussing with the Authority.”

However, the NMRA initially wrote a letter dated May 29, 2020 to the Sri Lanka Chamber of Pharmaceutical Industries (SLCPI) which represents its constituent members on the above concerns. In a response letter, the SLCPI claimed the NMRA only has powers to determine the initial prices of medicines, medical devices and borderline products and advise the minister on subsequent price revisions. This is in reference to Section 14 (q) of the NMRA Act.