Medicine illustration cropped from the Karnataka Congress graphic. Credit: Karnataka Congress/X.
Bengaluru: Karnataka Congress has said the state government warned hospitals and medicine-shop owners of strict action over the sale of cancer drugs at high prices, describing the intervention as an effort to reduce patients’ financial burden.
In an October 11 statement, the party said comprehensive information on the production costs and market prices of more than 253 cancer medicines had been submitted to the Union Department of Pharmaceuticals.
Party cites 30% margin limit
The party said the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) had imposed a 30% margin limit on traders who, it alleged, had been earning margins exceeding 52%.
The accompanying graphic also called for continued inspections at hospitals and medicine outlets and strict action for violations of the price limit. It illustrated the message with medicine packs and vials.
The warning, the submission of pricing information and the margin figures are claims made in the Karnataka Congress statement. The post did not identify the hospitals or sellers concerned, specify the date of the NPPA order it cited, or provide a drug-by-drug price list.
Reducing the burden on patients
Congress said reducing cancer patients’ financial burden was the government’s objective. Its statement focused on the prices charged by hospitals and medicine outlets and the information sent to the central pharmaceuticals department.
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