Published : 24 Oct 2026, 08:06 PM
Updated : 24 Oct 2026, 08:06 PM
The Indian government has capped trade margins on 137 cancer drugs at 30 percent, aiming to cut prices by up to 70 percent and protect low-income families from crippling healthcare debt.
The measure, which takes effect next month, is likely to save patients Tk 322 billion (250 billion Indian rupees) annually, The Guardian reports.
The policy shift stems from a 2022 petition filed by Sarojam Radhakrishnan, a retired bank employee from Kerala who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021. Unable to afford monthly treatment costs exceeding Tk 80,000 (63,000 Indian rupees), she sued to force government intervention.
Though Radhakrishnan died in late 2022, her case reached India's Supreme Court, where judges condemned hospital and distributor mark-ups as "extortion". Official data revealed average trade mark-ups of 170 percent on certain cancer drugs, with some reaching 700 percent.
India registers 1.56 million new cancer cases annually, and medical expenses push around 55 million citizens into poverty each year.
"The decision is a welcome step if the outcome is that more patients can access the drugs they need," Ravi Kannan, director of Cachar Cancer Hospital and Research Centre in Assam, was quoted by the British daily as saying.
The Supreme Court has given the government until Oct 27 to explain why price caps should not apply to all non-patented medicines.