Indian Parliamentary health committee calls for cap on profit margins from medicines and a stop to drugmakers 'bribing' physicians

India's Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare has proposed a series of measures to make drugs more affordable and accessible to ordinary people, such as  increasing the number of drugs under price control, a blanket cap on profit margins of all medicines and promoting the use of generic drugs, reports the Times of India, which notes that the measures, which seek to tackle the problem of the rising price of drugs, that now account for up to 80% of total health care costs, 'are bound to raise the hackles of the pharmaceutical industry.'

To add to the worries of the drug sector, the Committee has also seeks regulation of pharmaceutical companies caught bribing doctors, with stringent punishment such as cancelling their drug manufacturing licences. Making a reference to the newspaper's previous reports on the issue, the committee noted that the Medical Council of India could only regulate doctors, as it had no jurisdiction over companies and suggested that the penalization of drugmakers be effected through the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) or the income tax department.

Original DPCO proposal never implemented