Need Of Robust and Transparent Drug Price Monitoring Policy

Hyderabad, 7 March 2019: With pharmaceutical manufacturers, wholesale distributors and retail pharmacists alike selling medicines meant to cure dreaded disease like cancers at exorbitant rates, experts from industry have called upon the governments both at the centre and state to bring in more robust and a transparent drug price regulating and monitoring policy to impose a ceiling on prices of all medicines in the country. 

Though already National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has been set up to control the prices of some of the essential medicines, experts say this is not enough, as the general public is sometimes paying more than 2,000 to 3,000 per cent extra against the actual costs of the medicines manufactured by the pharma companies which are sold through retail pharmacies.

“With no proper price monitoring mechanism available down at the district and town levels, the retail pharmacies are sometimes even selling important cancer drugs for more than 2,000 to 3,000 per cent. If a strong price regulatory policy along with a robust monitoring system at the district level is put in place, then the common public will not have to shell out extra money from their pockets. As there is no imposition of a ceiling price either from the manufacturers or the government is put in force, the retail medical shop owners are looting the poor patients,” said P.R. Somani, Founder President of Nizambad Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

It is said that if the manufacturer of the medicine has set a price per each strip/vial/bottle etc, of the said medicine to the distributor, the distributor in turn sells it to the retailer with his own price tag, while the retailer who is the end point of sale of medicine to the general public and patients sells the same medicine at more than 2-3 thousand percent.

While explaining this with example, Somani said that if a drug company sells one medicine for Rs. 95 to a wholesale distributor, ideally the retailer has to sell it for just over for Rs. 100 to the end customers. However, shockingly it is seen that the retailers are selling the same medicine at Rs. 3,000 MRP which is nothing but looting. “The retailers are allowed to sell the drug price at MRP rates, which are set at more than a whooping 2-3 thousand per cent times more than what it costs at the manufacturing.

Similarly, the dialysis injection which has a wholesale price of Rs. 150 is being sold at Rs. 1,400. Citing another example, Somani said the cancer drug which costs Rs. 400 at wholesale is being sold for Rs. 2,637 MRP to the customers. “We have been fighting on the issue of drug price control regulation since past 6 months and because of our efforts recently the NPPA has come out with a capping of 30 per cent trade margins on about 42 cancer anti-cancer drugs prices in India. We are working in detail to find out a way out to bring a robust regulatory system which ensures transparency in setting up of drug prices so that the end user is not fleeced just because he has fallen sick,” observed Somani. Pharmabiz