The bench of judges Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta ruled that there is no basis to restrict the cost of some vital medicines while allowing others to be sold at inflated prices, as all medications are essential. The court proposed introducing a uniform rule limiting the maximum retail price (MRP) to a figure not exceeding 16% above the price for the retailer (PTR).
In Delhi, the Supreme Court stated on Monday that since the Centre could not provide the court with any patient-satisfying justification for maintaining excessively high maximum retail prices for medicines, while acknowledging that profit margins on drugs and medical consumables reach 1000%, the price of all non-patented medicines and consumables must also be under control. The court noted that the control should not be limited only to anti-cancer drugs, as the government had recently done.
The court highlighted a significant policy discrepancy, questioning the government about the reasons why the entire spectrum of non-patented medicines should not be included in the price regulation system. The bench noted that there are thousands of such examples.