A cut that heals?

Price caps on drugs should be weighed carefully

Last week, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) imposed a trade margin cap on nine cancer drugs, which is expected to lead to an MRP reduction of up to 87 per cent in some cases. The new list is in continuation with the government’s efforts to curb what it calls profiteering on these vital drugs. In March this year, the NPPA capped the prices of 390 non-scheduled cancer drugs. Justifying the move, the government has argued that the average out-of-pocket expenditure for cancer patients is 2.5 times that for other diseases. It has also been argued that this move will