Supreme Court: Flags "Daylight Dacoity" in Cancer Medicine Pricing

The Supreme Court on Tuesday took serious exception to the absence of price-control mechanisms for life-saving medicines as it flagged huge differences between the Price to Retailer (PTR) and Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of cancer-curing drugs [Kishan Chand Jain v. Union of India]. A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said the difference in prices is nothing short of daylight robbery being committed on vulnerable patients by drug manufacturers and retailers. "There are essential medicines for cancer for which MRP is ₹27,000 and PTR is ₹2,700. That is absolute rampage and carnage and broad daylight dacoity with the patients. How can a patient be cheated for a medicine which the manufacturer sells to the retailer at ₹2,700 and MRP is printed at ₹27,000? It is surprising that the authorities who are supposed to take a decision on this are absolutely silent. We need not spell out the reasons for that," Justice Mehta remarked.The Court further noted that such inflated pricing structures result in systemic fraud on public exchequers when medical expenses are reimbursed under state health schemes."When patients are taking treatment under Ayushman Bharat scheme, this whole price has to be paid by the taxpayers. Hospitals are buying medicines at these prices and then reimbursing from the government. It’s ultimately taxpayer’s money. There is a clear-cut case of fraud," the Court added.Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep MehtaThe Court was hearing a petition seeking man