BENGALURU: Health Minister UT Khader on Saturday welcomed the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority’s (NPPA) move to restrict trade margins on non-scheduled anti-cancer medicines to 30%, and urged the Centre to extend similar regulation to expensive medicines, medical equipment and consumables used in treating cardiac and kidney ailments.
Calling it a historic day, Khader said the state’s efforts to highlight the exorbitant prices of cancer medicines had begun yielding results. He said the NPPA had directed the Union Health Ministry to submit, by October 14, a list of the cancer medicines to be covered, along with details of their profit margins.
The proposed measure is expected to reduce the prices of several expensive cancer medicines by up to 70%, potentially saving patients around Rs 2,500 crore, according to the Centre’s estimates. The final list of medicines is yet to be determined, and the NPPA is expected to issue a notification after the process is completed.
Khader said the move would bring greater transparency to medicine pricing, as packages generally display only the maximum retail price (MRP), leaving patients with little information about the actual procurement costs and margins involved.
“If a 30% cap is implemented, the prices of several expensive medicines could come down substantially. Some medicines costing Rs 3,000 are sold at Rs 25,000, while an injection reportedly costing Rs 5,000 was being sold at Rs 65,000,” he said.
Cancer treatment often requires multiple injections, sometimes 10 or 12, pushing the total cost into several lakhs of rupees. Khader said regulating prices could substantially reduce the financial burden on patients and their families.