The Hindu : New Delhi News : Shocking variation in prices of same medicine

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 30, 2006

New Delhi

New Delhi

Shocking variation in prices of same medicine

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

"The customer is paying more than cost of the same drug offered by another company"

NEW DELHI: It's a list that no pharmaceutical company would ever make public. Nor would the chemist next door tell you about this money-spinning drug pricing scheme employed by the major players in business.

A market study of drug pricing has indicated a wide variation in retail prices of different brands of the same medicine that contains a single ingredient and is not available in varying combinations of ingredients.

What this effectively means is that the customer is paying much more than the cost of the same drug offered in the market by another reputed company.

While bargaining and bulk buying can bring down the retail prices of these drugs marginally, most customers who are not aware of the availability of cheaper versions of the same drug by another company end up paying more for the same "medical effect".

A pack of ten tablets of an anti-diabetic drug, Glimepiride (generic name), can be bought at Rs. 9.87 and Rs. 55.76; a drug to prevent post-menopausal osteoporosis, Risedronate (generic name), is available at Rs. 200.50 and Rs. 2,000; a drug given to cancer patients, Lotrozole (generic name), can be bought at Rs. 99 and Rs. 1,815; a drug used for schizophrenia treatment, Risperidone (generic name), is available at Rs. 16.94 and Rs. 270; a drug used to treat high levels of Calcium in some cancer patients, Zoledronic (generic name), is available at Rs. 2,800 and Rs. 12,500 a vial.

"We have brought out a list of 14 such drugs that have shown huge price variations. Customers often unaware of the cheaper option pay huge amounts for drugs. Also, we have to understand that the company that is offering these cheaper drugs is not doing so by cutting into its profits, which means that the customer is paying a lot more for the drug already. Most doctors, manufacturers and chemists don't usually inform customers of the cheaper options unless specifically asked for. Also, it is time that the Government brings in some measures so that patient do not suffer in the long run," said drug expert and editor of the Monthly Index of Medical Specialities C.M. Gulati.

Delhi Medical Council member Dr. Anil Bansal said: "We have also come across cases where a private drug manufacturing company using the same salt or ingredient brings out two different drugs one by its generic name and the other under a trade name."

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