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NEWS: Ganapati Mudur Indian health activists criticise voluntary price cuts by drug industry BMJ 2006; 333: 1036-c [Full text]

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Profit ceiling on drugs

Amitabh Parashar, Raonoke 24033   (18 November 2006)

Re: Profit ceiling on drugs compatible with profit and development

Biswaroop Chatterjee   (21 November 2006)

Profit ceiling on drugs 18 November 2006
Amitabh Parashar, Internal Medicne Resident ,Roanoke,VA UVA Roanoke Salem Program, Raonoke 24033 Send response to journal: Re: Profit ceiling on drugs	Governments all across the globe should define a ceiling for the maximum percentage profit a pharmaceutical company can get for drugs they manufacture; more so for which they do not hold the patent. As cited by the author Mr.Mudur;Public sector pharmaceutical units are able to provide drugs at a much lower price.However, the sheer volume of production of private players is not matched by the public sector and most of the patients who have to buy medicnes urgently buy it at higher prices of more readily available formulations. Competing interests: None declared
Re: Profit ceiling on drugs compatible with profit and development 21 November 2006
Biswaroop Chatterjee, Lecturer, Medical Microbiology Faculty of Medicine, Al Tahadi University, Sirte, Libya Send response to journal: Re: Re: Profit ceiling on drugs compatible with profit and development	Price control of drugs is perfectly compatible with the profitability of the pharmaceutical industry and its ability to develop new drugs. In the 1990s, approximately the same number of new molecules were developed by European and American pharmaceutical companies, despite the fact that all European countries exercise control over the prices of drugs while the United States does not. Moreover, much of the money paid by the consumer is not spent for Research and Development but for paying trade margins and for advertisement. Few trades are as profitable as the pharmaceutical trade, where competition between brands does not bring down prices. This happens because the person choosing the brand (the physician) does not pay while the person paying for the brand (the patient) has little knowledge and, very often, no authority to make an informed choice. Competing interests: None declared