Khader has written a letter to Union Health Minister J.P.
Pointing out that high-cost medicines used to treat cancer, kidney ailments, and AIDS are being sold at prices up to “70 times higher” than the rates at which dealers and stockists procure them, Karnataka Health Minister U.T. Nadda, seeking national action against “abnormal gaps” in drug prices.
Mr. Mr. Khader sought a national study comparing the printed MRP, manufacturer/importer price, hospital’s net acquisition price, and the price ultimately billed to patients for selected high-value medicines, medical devices, and consumables. He also proposed that the patient-facing price of products supplied through hospitals be capped at the lower end of the applicable statutory price, MRP or the hospital’s net acquisition cost plus a notified and reasonable service margin and applicable taxes.
Khader said that the issue was particularly concerning for in-patients, emergency and intensive-care patients, oncology patients, and those requiring implants, surgical consumables, and other hospital-based treatment, as they cannot realistically compare suppliers or defer purchases. The Minister said Karnataka would “cooperate with any pilot or national framework” and could, within its powers, make private hospitals disclose more information, require detailed bills for patients, and set up a system to handle complaints locally. However, he said the Centre needs to fix the basic problem — the large difference between what hospitals pay for medicines, the MRP printed on them and what patients are finally charged.
