‘ Cap margin on drugs sold in pvt hospitals to 25%’

A 25 per cent cap on profit margins of medicines and consumables sold at private hospitals is one of the key recommendations being discussed by the committee formed by Delhi government in the wake of Max Hospital case.

The committee held several rounds of meetings with various stakeholders and found that hospitals are “fleecing patients” by charging them for medicines and consumables much above the cost at which they had purchased them from the company.

In its report, which is being finalised and will be submitted to the government on Monday, the committee recommended a need to standardise the cost of various tests conducted by laboratories of the private hospitals, in line with those done by Dr Lal Pathlabs and Dr Suri Labs and the like.

“We asked them to show their billings and found huge profit margins; some of the stock was damaged or getting expired. There was a heated discussion and we told them they cannot charge so much. Discussion over a 25 per cent limit of profit margin on the cost at which a hospital has purchased the items is being currently held,” said a senior official, who is a member of the nine- member committee.

To put a limit on the loot of private hospitals/ nursing homes by way of selling medicines and consumables at inflated rates, the government had formed a nine- member committee. This was made necessary after medical negligence and overcharging cases reported from Max Hospital, Shalimar Bagh and Fortis Hospital, Gurgaon.

Other recommendations include that the private hospitals ensure that they will, as far as possible, only prescribe drugs mentioned in the National List of Essential Medicines ( NLEM). “If they want to prescribe drugs outside the list, they should counsel the patients and their attendants on the need to do so,” an official informed.

Health minister Satyendar Jain had earlier said that several complaints have been brought to his notice recently regarding overcharging, refusal/ delay in providing immediate medical care to patients compelling them to buy drugs from inhouse pharmacies.