Cancer Medicine Price: The Central Government has decided to take a big step to control the prices of cancer medicines. The Center told the Supreme Court that it will impose a 30 per cent trade margin cap on select anti-cancer drugs. Its objective is to stop excessive increase in the prices of medicines and to provide treatment to the patients at a reasonable price. This decision of the government is expected to reduce the cost of treatment of cancer patients.
30% margin cap on cancer medicines, list to be released
During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court that the Center will release a list of cancer drugs on which the 30 percent trade margin limit will be applicable. This list will be updated from time to time depending on market conditions and public health needs. New medicines can be added to it, while cheaper medicines will be kept out of this system.
According to the government, this move is expected to reduce the maximum retail price (MRP) of medicines by 20 to 70 percent and lead to savings of about Rs 2,500 crore annually.
Supreme Court said- the entire pharma market should be investigated
The Supreme Court made it clear that the exercise to control drug prices should not be limited to cancer drugs only. The court stressed the need for a comprehensive review of prices and trade margins across the entire pharmaceutical market.
Questioning the huge variation in MRP of some medicines, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta asked the Center why in some cases the price is several times higher than the cost. The court also said that there should be strong reasons in the interest of consumers for imposing price caps on some medicines and keeping others out of it.
Non-scheduled medicines and medical devices also considered
In the last hearing, the court had suggested imposing a similar cap of 16 per cent retail margin on non-scheduled medicines and medicines sold in hospitals. The Center stressed the need to maintain a balance between the price of medicines and their availability in the market.
The next hearing in this case will be on October 27. The Supreme Court will now consider the issues related to fixing the starting prices of medicines and caps on the prices of medical devices.
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