The Hindu Business Line : Paswan against drug price control provided consumers not hurt

Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers, flanked by Mr Nikhil Meswani (right), Executive Director, Reliance Industries Ltd, and Mr Onkar S. Kanwar, Senior Vice-President, FICCI, at the inaugural function of India Chem 2004 held in Mumbai on Wednesday. - Paul Noronha

Mumbai , Nov. 3

EVEN as the Government attempts to rein in the prices of generic medicines, the Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilisers, Mr Ram Vilas Paswan, said on Wednesday that he was not for price control on drugs, as long as the prices did not hurt consumers.

An interim report on the drug pricing issue has been submitted on October 31 to the Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals, he told media persons at the India Chem 2004 event in Mumbai. Details of the internally generated report were being examined by the department, he added.

The Minister said that he was "against price control," provided the consumer was not hurt by escalating medicine prices.

Taking into account the cost of production incurred by drug companies, he urged pharma companies to exercise "self-control" over their prices, so that generic or chemically-equivalent medicines would not be as expensive at the original branded medicine.

He admitted that monitoring authorities were in place to intervene in medicine prices if they reflected unnatural inflationary trends.

Mr Paswan had turned the heat on generic pharma companies, when he raised the issue of high prices in medicines that were copies of branded medicines.

The concern particularly was in critical segments, such as cancer and anti-AIDS drugs, Ministry officials said.

More Stories on : Health | Pharmaceuticals

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page