Supreme Court flags ₹3,000 to ₹27,000 cancer markup, questions DPCO
India
The Supreme Court is calling out the huge price gap in cancer medicines: some drugs supplied to retailers for ₹3,000 are being sold at an MRP of ₹27,000.
The court questioned why certain medicines remain outside the scope of the DPCO and sought to know why there is a distinction between essential and non-essential under DPCO.
Court urges 16% drug markup cap
The court also criticized corporate hospitals for forcing patients to buy medicines only from their own pharmacies, making treatment even more expensive.
To help fix this, it suggested a flat 16% cap on drug markups and called the current pricing "broad daylight dacoity," urging stronger rules to protect patients' wallets.