Cancer, kidney and AIDS drugs sold at up to 70 times cost: Karnataka minister

Karnataka Health Minister UT Khader said that while the existing MRP framework prevents drugs from being sold above the printed MRP, it does not address situations where the MRP itself bears little relation to the actual institutional transaction price. | Photo credit: File Photo

Pointing out that expensive drugs used to treat cancer, kidney disease and AIDS are being sold at prices up to “70 times higher” than the prices at which they are purchased, Karnataka Health Minister UT Khader has written to Union Health Minister JP Nadda seeking national action against “abnormal loopholes” in drug prices.

The minister said dealers and wholesalers are buying modern drugs from manufacturers at heavily discounted wholesale prices, while the MRPs printed on the drugs are set at “inflated, highly unreasonable levels”. The letter said the difference between the procurement price and the MRP was “sometimes 30 times to more than 70 times”.

Mr Khader said this problem particularly affects inpatients, emergency and intensive care patients, cancer patients and patients requiring implants, surgical supplies and other hospital treatments, as they cannot realistically compare suppliers or delay purchases.

The letter said that while the existing MRP framework prevents drugs from being sold above the printed MRP, it does not address situations where the MRP itself bears little relation to the actual institutional transaction price, adding that hospitals retain an excessive undisclosed margin.

Mr. Khader sought a national study that compared the printed MRP, manufacturer/importer price, hospital net acquisition cost and the price ultimately charged to patients for selected high-value drugs, medical devices and consumables. It also proposed that the price of products supplied through hospitals to patients be capped at the lower of the applicable statutory price, MRP or net procurement cost of the hospital plus a notified and reasonable service margin and applicable taxes.

The minister said Karnataka would “cooperate with any pilot or national framework” and could, within its powers, make private hospitals publish more information, require detailed bills for patients and create a local grievance redressal system. But, he said, the center needs to address the underlying problem — the wide gap between what hospitals pay for drugs, the MRP printed on them, and what patients are ultimately billed for.

Published – 27 Sep 2026 21:43 IST