Cap On Cancer Drug Prices Makes Doctors Wary Of Quality
BENGALURU, 1 MARCH 2019: The Centre’s decision to slash the prices of 42 non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs by up to 85% has elicited mixed responses from the medical community in the city.
Dr Sunil Bhat, senior consultant and head of paediatric hematology, oncology and bone marrow transplantation, Mazumdar Shaw Cancer Centre, Narayana Health City, said the move may impact the drugs’ quality as there is no mechanism in India to evaluate the medicines available in the market.
“The efficacy of the drug should not be compromised while capping prices. In India, there is no robust process of evaluating a drug post-registration and post-marketing. In a 100mg anti-cancer drug with a specific molecule, how do you make sure that the molecule is 100% after the price is capped? The medicine may look the same but its efficacy may reduce. Stringent regulatory norms to retain quality must be included in the process to cap prices,” opined Dr Bhat.
According to Dr BS Ajai Kumar, chairman and CEO of Healthcare Global Enterprises, the move may appear to benefit patients momentarily but will be detrimental to them in the long run.
“The government’s decision to provide monetary relief to cancer patients is welcome. But what if foreign pharmaceutical companies stop supplying to India? Also, who suffers in case the patient’s treatment and care is compromised? If a patient doesn’t do well over the course of treatment, how do we assess the quality of drugs and who’s to blame? This will also have an effect on research,” said Dr Kumar.
The NPPA order has created confusion in the government-run Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology (KMIO). “We have not received any order about the new prices of these essential cancer medicines. There are concerns about the quality too,” said Dr C Ramachandra, director, KMIO.
Manufacturers of these drugs will have to come up with new prices and submit them to NPPA and state drug controllers by March 6, 2019. The new pricing would kick in by March 8.
However, the chemists’ union has welcomed the move, stating that capping of prices will benefit poor cancer patients. “Most of these drugs are specialised ones that won’t be available with general druggists. This is a good move considering the cost of cancer care,” said V Harikrishnan, president, Suvarna Karnataka Chemists’ and Distributors’ Association (Bengaluru).ET Healthworld