NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday once again expressed strong displeasure over the huge margins charged by hospitals and the pharma trade on medicines for serious illnesses like cancer, after noting that "this is carnage, plain and simple."
The court said that when a cancer drug is available to the retailer for just Rs 2,700, but its Maximum Retail Price (MRP) is fixed at Rs 27,000, it puts a huge burden on the common patient and taxpayers.
"This is carnage. Plain and simple. The cancer drug is priced at an MRP of Rs 27,000 despite being supplied to retailers for Rs 2,700. Corporate hospitals don't spare anyone. They won't allow even the dead body to be taken out. The pharma sector is not bothered," the bench told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Centre.
The top court made these scathing observations after hearing petitions concerning regulation of medicine prices, generic prescriptions and controls on medical devices under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO), 2013.
The court asked the Centre to consider the possibility of fixing a uniform 16 percent margin on all medicines. A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta observed during the hearing that complaints about corporate hospitals forcing patients to buy medicines from their own chemist or a particular pharmacy are also serious.
The court asked Mehta why there should be a difference in margin between essential and non-essential medicines. He said that a 16 percent margin on MRP could be considered for every medicine. Mehta further replied that if a patient is undergoing treatment under a government scheme, the burden of the cost of the medicine ultimately falls on the taxpayer.
The bench questioned why, when the retail price of a cancer drug is Rs 2,700, its MRP is Rs 27,000 and who is benefiting from the money earned from this tenfold difference. It said that in this system, ultimately it is the honest taxpayer and the common patient who suffer.
The bench said that many corporate hospitals ask patients to buy medicines only from their own chemists and there are instances where they say they will not guarantee treatment if medicines are purchased from outside.
Directing the Centre to also examine these issues, the court fixed the matter for further rehearing to October 12.
Mehta asserted the court that the Centre will hold a meeting with officials in the matter and explore a way to strike a proper balance. He said that prima facie, it appears that the benefit of this huge difference is going not to pharma companies, but to private hospitals.
The bench said it will examine in detail both aspects - the price of medicines and ethical practices in the medical sector.
In the last hearing on September 22 also, the Supreme Court had said, "It is absolutely shocking that the MRP of an essential cancer drug is Rs 27,000, while it is being given to the retailer for Rs 2,700."
The court had asked, "If this is not extortion, then what is? People sell their homes and jewellery to get treatment." Regarding this difference in drug prices, the court said, "This is a completely unbridled situation. Patients are being robbed in broad daylight."