Court summons: Top aides asked to justify drug pricing
Punjab government says prices were fixed by the federal government as per the Drugs Act 1976.
ISLAMABAD:
The Supreme Court on Monday took serious note of the current pricing mechanism for medicines in the country.
The court, while hearing two separate cases, one related to spurious drugs (filed in 2006) and another regarding the price mechanism of drugs (pending since 2009), issued notices to the chief secretaries of all four provinces, advocates general and the attorney general to appear before court on December 1 and explain the current drug regulatory arrangements and strategy to the court.
The Punjab government in it written reply submitted to the court said prices were fixed by the federal government as per the Drugs Act 1976.
“The provincial government only regulates the sale, storage and distribution of drugs,” said the written statement.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, heading a three-judge bench, observed that after promulgation of the 18th constitutional amendment, the matter was the sole domain of provincial governments.
During the hearing, the counsel for multinational companies Shaeq Usmani said the prices of drugs are based on supply and demand equilibrium.
But referring to one of his judgments, Justice Gulzar Ahmad observed that in India medicines were cheap because multinational companies also assemble the raw material, adding that the situation was different in Pakistan.
In a report submitted by the Punjab government, some 780 samples were declared substandard while 123 were declared spurious. Up to 6,668 cases, were sent to the provincial quality control board. The report added that drug courts imposed fines amounting to Rs50.1 million.
The report reiterated that the eradication of spurious drugs was on the priority agenda for the Punjab government.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 7th, 2012.
The Supreme Court on Monday took serious note of the current pricing mechanism for medicines in the country.
The court, while hearing two separate cases, one related to spurious drugs (filed in 2006) and another regarding the price mechanism of drugs (pending since 2009), issued notices to the chief secretaries of all four provinces, advocates general and the attorney general to appear before court on December 1 and explain the current drug regulatory arrangements and strategy to the court.
The Punjab government in it written reply submitted to the court said prices were fixed by the federal government as per the Drugs Act 1976.
“The provincial government only regulates the sale, storage and distribution of drugs,” said the written statement.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, heading a three-judge bench, observed that after promulgation of the 18th constitutional amendment, the matter was the sole domain of provincial governments.
During the hearing, the counsel for multinational companies Shaeq Usmani said the prices of drugs are based on supply and demand equilibrium.
But referring to one of his judgments, Justice Gulzar Ahmad observed that in India medicines were cheap because multinational companies also assemble the raw material, adding that the situation was different in Pakistan.
In a report submitted by the Punjab government, some 780 samples were declared substandard while 123 were declared spurious. Up to 6,668 cases, were sent to the provincial quality control board. The report added that drug courts imposed fines amounting to Rs50.1 million.
The report reiterated that the eradication of spurious drugs was on the priority agenda for the Punjab government.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 7th, 2012.