Karnataka Minister Warns Cancer and AIDS Drug Prices Can Be 70 Times Procurement Cost

Karnataka’s health minister says cancer, kidney and AIDS medicines are being sold at up to 70 times the price dealers pay. He wrote to Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda asking the centre to act on the “abnormal gaps” between procurement costs and retail prices. Dealers buy advanced drugs at heavily discounted wholesale landed rates, while printed MRPs are set at inflated levels that can be 30 to more than 70 times higher. The gap hurts in‑patients, emergency and ICU cases, oncology patients and anyone needing implants or surgical consumables because they cannot compare suppliers or delay purchases. The current MRP rule stops sellers from exceeding the printed price but does not stop hospitals from adding large undisclosed margins. Khader wants a national study that compares printed MRP, manufacturer or importer price, hospital net acquisition cost and the final bill to patients for selected high‑value medicines, devices and consumables. He also proposes capping the patient‑facing price at the lower of the statutory price, the MRP or the hospital’s net cost plus a reasonable service margin and taxes. Karnataka will join any pilot or national framework, can force private hospitals to share more price information, issue detailed bills and set up a local complaints system. However, the minister says the centre must fix the fundamental mismatch between what hospitals pay, the printed MRP and what patients finally pay.

Context

The price gap shows how the MRP system, meant to protect buyers, can be sidestepped when hospitals add large margins, a pattern seen in other Indian states. This makes it hard for patients to know the real cost of life‑saving drugs.