New Delhi, Oct 12 (Agencies): Finding fault with the Centre’s response on capping the trade margin of anti-cancer drugs at 30% of the maximum retail price (MRP), the Supreme Court on Monday said there was “hardly anything to be happy about” as it wondered why the government could not cap trade margins of other medicines.
Faced with severe criticism from the top court over steep markup of cancer drugs by hospitals, the Centre said it has decided to cap the trade margin on anti-cancer drugs at 30 per cent of the MRP, which is expected to result in annual savings of approximately Rs 2,500 crore to patients.
According to NDTV, the decision was considered at the 151st meeting of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) on October 8.
“It is respectfully submitted that a comprehensive statutory and policy framework is in place for regulating the prices of drugs in the country and that the government has, in public interest, been taking calibrated and consultative steps, including by invoking its extraordinary powers under Paragraph 19 of the DPCO, 2013, to curb excessive trade margins, without compromising the availability of medicines. A Bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta, however, termed it as insufficient, flagging that a single saline drip was sold in market for Rs 270 while its actual cost was Rs 11.
“There is hardly anything to be happy about. There is actually nothing for the benefit of the patients,” the Bench told Solicitor General Mehta and Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, who tried to explain the change.
Giving time to the Government to work out modalities for capping the price of medicines, the Bench posted the matter for further hearing on October 27.
The Bench pointed out that the cost of an India-made cardiac stent was around Rs 5,000 but it’s sold by hospitals for more than Rs 25,000 and similarly, the cost of common antibiotic Azithromycin was sold at over Rs 70 while its actual cost was around Rs 28 only.
Mehta said medicines cannot be capped beyond a limit as higher margins enable them to reach far-flung areas.
“If the DPCO [Drugs (Prices Control) Order]-approved medicines do not reach customers, then it is the duty of the government to ensure it reaches the patient. The actual dispute is what medicine should be in the DPCO controlled list and what should not be,” the Bench said.
