Hyderabad: Medicines have become more important than food in today’s time. A person can compromise with regard to his food but he cannot do the same with regard to his medicines.
Taking advantage of this fact, the drug dealers are fleecing the people in earning crores of rupees unethically.
It will come as a shock to many that the drug manufacturing companies follow the diktat of the wholesalers and retailers in fixing their medicines prices. The government plays no role in regulating these prices.
Government’s failure to regulate the drug manufacturing companies is putting the government and the people at a disadvantageous situation..
According to a report, the prices of the medicines from its manufacturing costs till they are dispensed to a common man are increased many hundred folds.
The pharma companies fix the medicines’ prices in tandem with the wholesalers and the retailers.
Due to the arbitrary fixing of medicines’ prices, both the government and the public suffer losses to the tune of Rs.12 – 15 lakh crores per annum.
According to the President of the Chamber of Commerce Nizamabad P R Somani, the government succeeded in fixing trade margins on some medicines.
Somani said, “As a trial, the Central Government fixed a trade margin on cancer medicines which lead to a surprise 87 percent decrease in prices. The Chemo injection which was earlier priced at Rs.1 lakh has been reduced to Rs.10,000 now. This price regulation has come into effect from March 8, 2019”.
“Similarly, if the government fixes trade margins on all other medicines, the public could benefit immensely,” Somani opined.