Bengaluru, Oct 1 (IANS): The Karnataka government has flagged a wide disparity between the institutional procurement cost and Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of high-cost medicines, cancer drugs, antibiotics, medical devices and hospital consumables, with some products found to be sold at MRPs more than 50 times their landing cost.
The official statement by the Karnataka Home Ministry in this regard stated on Thursday, “The Food Safety and Drug Administration (FDA), Karnataka, made the findings during recent inspections of hospitals treating cancer patients and other establishments. The department has brought the issue to the attention of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), seeking national-level intervention to prevent excessive billing of patients.”
According to the department, pharmaceutical companies supply certain medicines to hospitals at heavily discounted institutional prices, while patients are billed at or near the printed MRP. Investigations have identified 253 drugs with extreme pricing disparities.
For instance, Gufipol, supplied by Criticare, was procured at a landing cost of Rs 86 while its MRP was Rs 4,528, representing a 52.6-fold difference. Guficycline-50 injection had a landing cost of Rs 160 against an MRP of Rs 7,110, a 44.4-fold difference.
Similarly, Terlitis had a landing cost of Rs 118 against an MRP of Rs 4,416, while Taxocare 120 mg had a procurement cost of Rs 1,000 against an MRP of Rs 21,617.
Other products identified during the inspections included Canmab 440 mg, with a landing cost of Rs 6,600 and MRP of Rs 57,457, and Bevatas 400 mg injection, procured at Rs 5,850 against an MRP of Rs 62,690.
The disparity was also observed in hospital consumables. An adult nebuliser mask with a landing cost of Rs 44.50 had an MRP of Rs 950, while an IV set procured at Rs 14.75 had an MRP of Rs 295.
Health and Family Welfare Minister U.T. Khader, in a letter dated September 23, sought the Union Health Minister’s intervention and called for measures to address excessive patient billing involving medicines, medical devices and consumables procured by hospitals at institutional prices.
The state has sought mandatory disclosure of both landing cost and MRP on patient bills, expansion of price-controlled medicines under the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO), regulation of trade margins on essential high-value medicines and consumables, and an inter-ministerial expert group to study the issue.
It has also proposed amendments to the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013, rationalisation of trade margins, cost-to-MRP transparency, expansion of the National List of Essential Medicines and an audit and enforcement mechanism.
The FDA and Drugs Enforcement Officers conducted another special verification drive on September 25 and 26 at wholesale premises, hospitals and other establishments in Bengaluru and districts across Karnataka.
The inspections covered more than 768 consumable items and 189 high-cost drugs. The findings will be submitted to the Central Government.
The department said the verification exercise would continue in phases, with the next phase focussing on anti-retroviral drugs, critical and higher-generation antibiotics, medical devices and hospital consumables involving substantial financial implications for patients.
The Karnataka government said it would continue efforts to improve transparency in healthcare billing and protect patients from avoidable financial hardship.
