State Drug Controller
Also called: State Drugs Control Department · Topic: Statutory, Regulatory and Quasi-judicial Bodies · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
A State Drug Controller is the officer who heads a state's drug control department. The post comes from the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. The office gives licences to people who make or sell medicines and inspects factories and shops. Drugs are on the Concurrent List, so the Centre and the states can both make laws on them. In practice, though, checking medicine shops on the ground is the state's job. This also makes the office the main enforcer of central price orders. When the Centre lowers a medicine's MRP (maximum retail price, the highest price printed on the pack), the State Drug Controller checks that sellers actually charge the new price. So a central price rule works only as well as the state's checks.
Example
In 2026, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) capped the trade margin on 137 anti-cancer drugs at 30% of MRP. It used Para 19 of DPCO 2013. The trade margin is the share of the price kept by wholesalers and shopkeepers. The lower MRPs came into force on 9 November 2026. State Drug Controllers were given the job of enforcing them. Hospitals had to follow the new prices for medicines they supply directly to patients.
Don't confuse with
- National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA): a central body under the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers. It fixes or caps prices under DPCO 2013. The State Drug Controller does not set prices. It only enforces them inside the state.