Tamil Nadu - Chennai   

Plea to regulate medicine prices

CHENNAI: Ten tablets of folic acid, a prescribed supplement for pregnant women, cost between Rs. 19 and Rs. 30 in the open market in the State. The same number is procured by the Tamil Nadu Medical Supply Corporation at Rs. 0.59.

The difference in prices between tender rates and over the counter sales does not merely reflect the difference between wholesale and retail prices — they reflect the lack of price control and the profit margins of pharmaceutical companies, representatives of Centre for Consumer Education, Research and Training, (CONCERT), said here on Friday.

The cost of drugs for multi-drug resistant tuberculosis is equivalent to the daily wages of 737 days for a labourer. The cost of drugs for coronary heart disease would equal wages for 209 days.

Much of the disconnect between pricing of medicines and average income was due to lack of price control, they said.

The Trust has urged the government to enforce price regulation on all essential drugs, weed out harmful and useless drugs.

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