Hospitals billing drugs at 52 times the cost: Karnataka asks Centre to step in

Hospitals in Karnataka are charging patients up to 52 times the actual cost of drugs, according to a verification by the state's Food Safety and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA found that private hospitals were billing patients, including those undergoing cancer treatment, prices ranging from 10 times to over 52 times the procurement cost of the medications.

Health Minister U T Khader has written to the Union Health Ministry, requesting urgent national-level intervention to address the issue. The problem stems from the fact that hospitals receive heavily discounted institutional prices for drugs from pharmaceutical companies, but patients are then charged near the Maximum Retail Price (MRP).

This markup leads to astronomical bills for patients. The FDA has identified numerous examples of extreme pricing disparities, including antibiotics like Gufipol, which costs Rs 80 but is billed at Rs 4,528 (52 times), and Guficycline-50 injection, which costs Rs 160 but is billed at Rs 7,110 (44.4 times). The state government has called for several measures, including mandating the display of landing cost and MRP on patient bills, expanding the list of drugs under price control, and setting up an inter-ministerial expert group to address the issue.