Price control for imported medical drugs soon?

by Carol Aloysius

Imported medical drugs are likely to come under price control in the near future.

According to sources from the Consumer Affairs Authority (CAA), Internal Trade Minister Johnston Fernando has proposed that all imported drugs used for medicinal purposes are price controlled under the Consumer Act 2003, Section 9.

A spokesman for the CAA told the Sunday Observer that at present, 249 varieties of medical drugs are imported under their generic names.” However, if you take the brands which fall into three categories, they will add up to over 15,000 drugs”, he said. CAA sources said that the price of such drugs varied from pharmacy to pharmacy even though they were of the same brand. “Regulating prices would help give the public a fair choice“, they said.

Health Ministry sources are optimistic that the National Drug Policy which would be submitted soon to the Cabinet by Health Minister Maitripala Sirisena, will result in less imported drugs flooding the country and thereby they would have more control over prices.