What is the purpose of the National List of Essential Medicines?

Government regulatory agency National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Authority (NPPA) controls the prices of medicines in India and comes out with a list every three years. Through the National List of Essential Medicines or NLEM, prices of essential medicines are regulated so that the medicines are not only affordable but also more easily available.

When is a drug dropped from the NLEM?

A drug is deleted for the following reasons: Concerns about drug safety emerge. A more cost-effective medicine is available. Change in the country’s disease burden.

Why has ranitidine been dropped from NLEM?

The antacid salt was put under scanner in 2019, when studies showed that it contained a potentially carcinogenic compound called N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), a cancer causing property. Just before the COVID-19 pandemic, the US Food and Drug Administration, and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), banned the sale of the drug in their respective regions.

Will it not be available now?

It will be available in the pharmacies as there is no ban on the sale of the drug. Removal of drugs from the NLEM has no impact on its availability in the market but it may have an impact on the pricing, depending on what the manufacturers choose.

Which other drugs have been dropped from the list?

1. Alteplase 2. Atenolol 3. Bleaching Powder 4. Capreomycin 5. Cetrimide 6. Chlorpheniramine 7. Diloxanide furoate 8. Dimercaprol 9. Erythromycin 10. Ethinylestradiol 11. Ethinylestradiol (A) Norethisterone (B) 12. Ganciclovir 13. Kanamycin 14. Lamivudine (A) + Nevirapine (B) + Stavudine (C) 15. Leflunomide 16. Methyldopa 17. Nicotinamide 18. Pegylated interferon alfa 2a, Pegylated interferon alfa 2b 19. Pentamidine 20. Prilocaine (A) + Lignocaine (B) 21. Procarbazine 22. Ranitidine 23. Rifabutin 24. Stavudine (A) + Lamivudine (B) 25. Sucralfate 26. White Petroleum