In another U-turn, Punjab ends buprenorphine tablet price cap

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government took another U-turn on controlling price of detoxification medicine buprenorphine by doing away with cap on its price, nine months after fixing the price amidst much fanfare.
With aim to check undue profiteering and reduce out-of-pocket expense of patients already facing social and economic hardships, the state government in November 2019 had fixed the price of one tablet of buprenorphine at Rs 7.5. The medicine was earlier being sold for Rs 30-40 by private deaddiction centres. The Punjab government had also subsequently written to the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) for regulating the price of buprenorphine-naloxone under the Essential Commodities Act.
The price cap was imposed only on 2mg tablets whereas buprenorphine is available in market in different strengths such as 0.2mg and 0.4 mg.
The state government’s decision in 2019 had led to criticism by the deaddiction centres, which complained of manufacturers not supplying the medicine at the fixed price. The state government struggled to effectively implement the capping as many private centres started charging consultation fees in the range of Rs 300-500 to cover their losses. Some of them even dispensed small quantities of medicine to the patients forcing them to revisit frequently.
As the Punjab Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Counseling and Rehabilitation Centres Rules 2011 have been amended to allow private psychiatric clinics to dispense detoxification medicines to substance abuse patients, the state government is of the view that under the changed circumstances it is not “advisable” to control the price of the medicine and continue with the capping. About 200 private psychiatrist clinics will now be able to dispense the medicine, which was earlier allowed for private drug rehabilitation centres and government-run outpatient opioid-assisted treatment (OOAT) clinics only. The decision has been taken after consultation with the legal remembrancer (LR).
“No manufacturers were ready to supply the medicine at the rate fixed by the government and the centres were facing tough times,” rued a psychiatric, who lauded the decision to do away with the price cap.
Punjab health minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said that the price cap has been done away with and the centres will be allowed to dispense medicines at the rate fixed on the basis of different strengths of medicine. He, however, assured that the state government will keep a close watch on the centres to ensure that patients are not fleeced.
Every centre will have to ensure that the manufacturer who supplies any medicine gets its batch tested from the state food and drug testing laboratory, Kharar and is not allowed dispense any batch of medicine which has not been tested.