Mangaluru: Health minister UT Khader has urged Union govt to enact legislation to curb excessive profiteering by manufacturers of life-saving drugs.Speaking to reporters on Saturday, the minister pointed out that National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) only has the authority to regulate prices of scheduled drugs, rather than all medicines. Taking advantage of this, pharmaceutical companies are setting profit margins hundreds of times higher on non-scheduled drugs. For instance, an injection costing Rs 5,000 is being sold at Rs 60,000. Since state govts do not have direct authority to regulate medicine prices, the state has written a letter and submitted a detailed report to central govt requesting that all life-saving drugs be brought under the price control list, the minister said.Price inspections are currently underway for consumer medical products, injections, and implants. In the next phase, a study covering 186 major high-brand drugs will be conducted. Noting that Supreme Court has also expressed strong objections regarding arbitrary drug pricing, Khader demanded that central govt take urgent corrective action.He said a key national-level consultation meeting of food and drugs department commissioners and senior officials from various states will be held in Bengaluru on Nov 15. The meeting will focus on improving food and drug safety standards and defining the clear responsibilities of state and central govts, he said.Addressing snakebite treatment availability, the minister stated that there is no shortage of anti-snake venom injections in the state. Each Primary Health Centre (PHC) has been stocked with 10 vials, taluk-level hospitals with 30 vials, and district warehouses maintain required reserves.He added that introducing cold storage systems in 108 ambulances is necessary to store anti-snake venom, and plans are being formulated to implement this service within the next one or two months.
