Fight to check prices lacks punch

Pharma firms, which hold the monopoly on patented drugs, make the kill during the patency period.

Update: 2015-12-22 05:56 GMT
Dr K.G. Revikumar

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The lack of effective Government control over the import of life-saving drugs, the absence of centrally-monitored registry for medicines and the trend of pushing expensive drugs are the bane of the health sector, says Dr K.G. Revikumar, former head of clinical pharmacy at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College.

It’s a lucrative world out there for both the importer and the overseas drug manufacturer as they fix price tags and push niche drugs into the local market. Clinicians, who are pampered with expensive goodies, prescribe the medicines, least concerned whether there have market-standing and are local times-tested alternatives.

Pharma firms, which hold the monopoly on patented drugs, make the kill during the patency period. But the Government has the powers for compulsory licensing under TRIPS and lower prices of drugs to help the common man.

In the absence of a central registry with bar coding for all drugs, it is impossible to check real-time whether medicines flooding the market are dated or maintain quality.

Lacunae in indigenous production help doctors and hospitals to sell expensive items with the least concern for patients who may not have the wherewithal to buy them. But when exotic drugs are presented as sure panacea, most patients and relatives shell out the last penny.

At least this could be checked if the State or the Centre insisted on a priority list of drugs for hospitals to choose from on the basis of their proven curative value, said Dr Revikumar.

 

 

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