The Supreme Court has raised serious concerns over the pricing of essential cancer medicines after being told that one drug supplied to retailers for ₹2,700 carried a maximum retail price (MRP) of ₹27,000.
A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta questioned how such a wide gap between the price to retailer (PTR) and the MRP could be permitted for medicines required by patients undergoing critical treatment. Justice Sandeep Mehta described the pricing disparity in strong terms and questioned why regulatory authorities had not acted on the issue.
The observations were made while the court was hearing petitions seeking stronger regulation of medicine prices, including mandatory prescriptions of generic drugs and controls on the initial prices of non-scheduled medicines.
The court also raised concerns about the impact of inflated medicine prices on patients and public funds. It noted that when medicines are purchased at high prices under government-funded health schemes, the additional cost can ultimately be borne by taxpayers.
The hearing also brought attention to the existing drug price-control framework. The petitioners argued that a large proportion of medicines fall outside the scheduled category under the Drug Price Control Order, 2013, meaning there is no upfront price fixation for such medicines.
The Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance, represented by senior advocate Kapil Sibal, argued that pharmaceutical companies may not retain the entire difference between the retailer price and final selling price, and suggested that the pricing at the stockist, retail and hospital levels should also be examined.
The Centre said it was committed to improving access to affordable medicines and referred to the Jan Aushadhi initiative.
The Supreme Court has listed the matter for further hearing on September 29.