PGI Director Dr Jagat Ram at his office in Chandigarh on Wednesday. (Express Photo by Sahil Walia/File)
AFTER CHANDIGARH Newsline revealed the huge difference in the cost of medicines available at chemists at Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Director Professor Jagat Ram said the institute would enhance the mandatory discount that has to be provided by a chemist at PGIMER. Currently, it is mandatory for chemists at PGI to mark down the MRP of medicines by a minimum of 15 per cent.
“At present we cannot change the tender agreements. But, from now onwards, for all tenders to open pharmacies, we will increase the discount from the existing 15 per cent. I cannot tell right now how much it would be enhanced, but the existing discount rate would be increased in the forthcoming tender documents so that patients get the maximum benefit,” said Dr Jagat Ram.
On Monday, Chandigarh Newsline highlighted how the cost of a medicine varies widely from pharmacy to pharmacy inside PGI. The investigation found that the two most expensive outlets are located at the Emergency and trauma centres. Chandigarh Newsline purchased four different medicines widely prescribed by doctors from five chemist outlets located inside the campus. Each chemist stocked a different brand of the same salt and the price difference was in the range of Rs 1,500.
Professor Jagat Ram said the institute, however, was not the price regulating authority of the medicines. “The PGI has no control over the prices of the MRP of the medicines. It(regulation) is being done at the level of the central government. But, at our own level, we are ensuring that no chemist sells the medicine more than MRP. We have been taking serious action against the violations and in future as well, we will take strict action against the chemist shops if any violation is found,” he said.
The director further stated that the “institute is ready to earn less revenue through these chemist shops for the benefit of patients”. “In future, even if we get lower rents for the shops, we will ensure that the patients who visit the institute are provided medicines at cheaper costs,” he said.
Asked about providing information to patients on the various chemist shops on the campus, Dr Jagat Ram said information posters would be pasted in all the buildings at PGI. “We cannot tell the patient to purchase the medicine from any particular chemist. But, with the help of these posters, a patient or a family member would be able to know that there are other chemists,” said Dr Ram.
The Chandigarh Newsline investigation had found that at the lone private chemist at Nehru Emergency, the mark-up was as much as Rs 1,500. According to the PGI’s PRO, the chemist shop at the Nehru Emergency was paying a rent of Rs 86,14,231 plus 18 per cent GST every month to the institute.
A senior PGI administrative official told Chandigarh Newsline on Monday that replacing the expensive outlet at the Emergency with the inexpensive Jan Aushadhi or Amrit was not the solution to the entire problem.
Officials cite two reasons. “We cannot ignore the fact that through these monthly rents of the chemist, we get a huge revenue every year. The second problem is that not all medicines are available at stores like Amrit. The institute has been trying to give a variety of options to the patients and the family members when they purchase medicines. The institute is also coming up with its own pharmacy, that is also going to provide a relief to the patients for purchasing medicines, because the institute will provide a huge discount on the medicines,” said the official.