Fleecing patients

The impunity with which private hospitals make patients bleed financially is a poor reflection on the Central and state governments, which have been found deficient in providing affordable medical care. The Supreme Court has rightly observed that the states’ failure to offer reasonably priced medicines shows that they “facilitate and promote” private entities. The Centre’s claim that there is no compulsion on patients or their attendants to buy medicines from hospital pharmacies or specific shops tells only half the story. More often than not, people have little option but to purchase medicines and medical devices at hefty rates from private hospitals — simply because there are doubts about their availability as well as quality in the open market.

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The onus is on policymakers to frame guidelines to curb rampant exploitation of patients and their families. This is not an easy task, considering the backlash the National Medical Commission faced in 2023 when it told doctors to prescribe generic medicines, not branded ones, and warned them of penalties in case of non-compliance. The order was soon withdrawn after the medical fraternity asserted that there should be no compromise on the quality of medicines. This argument was endorsed by manufacturers of branded drugs, who were — and continue to be — driven largely by the profit motive rather than public welfare.

A major reason why private hospitals are minting money from the sale of medicines is the below-par performance of government-run Jan Aushadhi Kendras. These centres — there are more than 15,000 of them, covering all districts of the country — have been set up with the aim of providing high-quality generic medicines at affordable prices to all citizens. However, they are plagued by problems such as a shortage of medicines, lack of quality control and the unauthorised sale of branded drugs. A comprehensive reform of the drug regulatory system can go a long way in easing the woes of hapless patients.