Supreme Court On Medicine Prices: ₹27,000 MRP For ₹2,700 Drug | ‘Extortion’, ‘Daylight Dacoity’

The Supreme Court has questioned the huge gap between the price to retailer (PTR) and maximum retail price (MRP) of essential medicines, particularly cancer drugs. The bench highlighted an example where a medicine had an MRP of ₹27,000 while the PTR was ₹2,700. The court described such inflated pricing in strong terms and raised concerns over the impact on patients and taxpayers. It also questioned the role of regulatory authorities and the pricing structure of medicines. The Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance argued that manufacturers may not retain the entire margin, pointing to markups at the stockist, retail and hospital levels.