Price-hike of medicines leads to public outcry

LAHORE: The illegal hike in drugs prices over and above the government-approved 15 percent increase has provoked a public outcry in the country.

The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), in a notification dated January 10, 2019, available with The News, notified increase of 9 percent over and above maximum retail price (MRP) of medicines in hardship cases i.e. the drugs whose cost of manufacturing exceeds market price; and 15 per cent on all remaining medicines, registered with the authority, excluding medicines in hardship cases. However, the lack of a proper price monitoring mechanism ledto an increase of up to 100 per cent and beyond in prices of medicines.

On the other hand, the market situation reflected a different trend altogether, as medicines of TB, diabetes, heart, hepatitis, cancer, gynae and female hormonal medicines, antibiotics, multi-vitamins, and others witnessed a sharp increase of over and above 15 per cent, ranging from 40 to 100 per cent and beyond in their retail rates.

The variation in prices of medicines has been noted for each pack of Tab Dispirin from Rs803 to Rs960; Tab Serc 24mg from Rs487 to Rs902.52; Tab Aldomet 250mg from Rs638 to Rs840.39; Cap Diabeton from Rs550 to Rs850; Tab Proviron from Rs247.50 to Rs586; Tab Concor 2.5mg raised from Rs60 to Rs125.35 and with 5mg potency from Rs158 to Rs234.35; Tab Erythrocin 250mg from Rs540 to Rs921.05; Amp Gravibinan 1ml from Rs108 to Rs169; Tab Duphaston 10mg from Rs524 to Rs828; Tab Triforge 5/160/12.5 from Rs186 to Rs485 on each pack.

Meanwhile, DRAP launched a crackdown on illegal increase in prices of drugs. Senior Drugs Inspector Islamabad Sardar Shabbir Ahmad seized such medicines with massive price variation from different medical stores in the federal capital.

In a letter to Director (Costing & Pricing) DRAP, dated April 2, 2019, the senior inspector sought current approval MRP regarding seized medicines for further legal course. He also sought current approved MRP of all registered drugs for monitoring of the drug prices in the market. In this regard, Drug Lawyers’ Forum Chairman Noor Muhammad Mehr said DRAP’s affairs lacked transparency as it had neither displayed the total number of registered drugs nor retail prices of the medicines on its website. “There is no mechanism for drug inspectors to check pharmaceutical companies’ violation in compliance of maximum retail price as notified by DRAP,” he regretted. Approximately, he said, there are 85,000 medicines registered with the Authority.

“The inconsistent increase in prices of medicines has hit the poor and middle-class segments hard,” says Abdul Rehman, 56, a local fruit vendor residing in a locality behind Data Darbar in Lahore, while purchasing medicines for cardiovascular ailment at a chain pharmacy store. He slammed the government for giving a free hand to pharmaceutical companies to increase prices at will.

It was also learnt that some of the lifesaving drugs had disappeared from shelves. “I have to find Tab Tegral to treat fits to my wife, which is available only at certain medical stores in black (marketing),” said Shahzad Ahmad, 50, a labourer residing in Township area of Lahore.

Pakistan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (PPMA) Chairman Hamid Raza said that the federal government had allowed 15 per cent increase in prices of medicines due to the closing gap between manufacturing cost and product’s market value, thus minimising the profit margin. With merely 7 per cent indigenous production of pharmaceutical raw material, he said, Pakistan has to import more than 90 per cent of raw material from India, China and Europe, which had become dearer due to a growing disparity between rupee and dollar.

However, he said some black sheep in the industry had illegally increased prices of medicines over and above the recent increase. “A few pharmaceutical companies have increased drug prices up to 24 per cent, as they considered both 15 per cent as well as 9 per cent increase under hardship cases applicable in their cases,” he added.

Young Doctors Association (YDA) Pakistan General Secretary Dr Salman Kazmi has said the inadvertent across-the-board increase in prices of medicines may endanger the lives of poor patients due to either non-availability or availability of drugs at exorbitant rates beyond their buying capacity. He said the patients with cardiac diseases and diabetes are at risk now due to non-availability of lifesaving drugs or being beyond the reach of a common man.

He urged DRAP to engage IT Ministry and Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) to develop a Mobile App to make registration and pricing transparent as well as to stop over-the-counter sale of medicines without doctor’s prescription at medical stores.

Deputy Director Quality Management System DRAP Akhtar Abbas categorically denied 100 per cent increase in drug prices. However, he admitted that some pharmaceutical companies illegally increased the prices of certain brands and they will be strictly dealt with in accordance with the law.

He said DRAP had been working to update the list of over 75,000 registered drugs along with MRP. However, he said, it will take time.

Regarding ‘artificial shortage’ of lifesaving medicines in the market, Akhtar Abbas admitted that there was a genuine shortage of some medicines, whose reasons included those drugs that are used in rare diseases, demand and supply gap due to outbreak of diseases, or even smuggling of drugs. He said that DRAP is working to fix these issues, but the general public also needs to be educated about substitutes of medicines available in the market in case of shortage of particular medicines.

Talking to The News, DRAP Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Dr Asim Rauf said the Authority had launched a crackdown across Pakistan on unauthorised increase in prices of medicines. “DRAP will issue notices to the companies responsible for unauthorised increase in prices of medicines and then refer their cases to the drug courts for initiating further legal proceedings against them,” he added.