Delhi govt committee suggests cap on 'exhorbitant' profit margins of pvt hospitals

In case of diagnostic tests, the committe has recommended that labs and hospitals must not charge a premium of more than 15% over market rates .

After a series of a case brought to fore the exorbitant rates charged by the private hospitals in the national capital, a committee, formed by the Delhi government, has suggested norms that would put a cap on these rates.

One of the important recommendations is that private hospitals should only prescribe from the list of 376 drugs on the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), said an HT report.

In case of diagnostic tests, the committee has recommended that labs and hospitals must not charge a premium of more than 15% over market rates.

If the hospital has to prescribe a drug which is not on the National List of Essential Medicines, the hospitals must not charge a profit of not more than 50% on the procurement price. It must be noted that profit mentioned in the committee's recommendation is not calculated based on the MRP, but on procurement price.

Professor Vijay Bhalla, the director, SGT College of Pharmacy, Gurgaon, welcomed the recommendations and said that "This will make a huge difference."

"The drug price control orders fix the rates of NLEM drugs by calculating a market average of the selling price of drugs in a particular category, ensuring some profit for manufacturers but not too much," an HT report quoted Bhalla as saying.

Last year in September, 7-year-old girl, Adya, was treated for dengue in Fortis Memorial Gurgaon and the family was given a bill that went into lakhs. The girl eventually died. An investigation into this particular case by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) revealed that the hospital made a profit of more than 1,700% on drugs and consumables used for the treatment.

OneIndia News