Supreme Court questions steep mark-ups on cancer drugs, calls pricing disparity ‘carnage’
The Supreme Court of India has criticized the massive price mark-ups on essential cancer drugs, labeling the disparity between retailer costs and consumer prices as 'carnage'. The court is questioning why a uniform 16% margin is not applied to all essential medicines to protect taxpayers.
Why it matters
This highlights a critical issue in healthcare affordability and potential regulatory failures in the pharmaceutical supply chain.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday (September 29, 2026) expressed concern over the sharp disparity between the prices charged to retailers and consumers for essential medicines, particularly cancer drugs, observing that steep mark-ups placed an enormous burden on taxpayers and amounted to “carnage”.
A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta questioned the Centre on why the 16% retailer margin provided for under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO), 2013 should not be applied uniformly to essential medicines to curb steep mark-ups over the price to retailer (PTR).
“Why not keep the 16% margin on MRP, which is prescribed in the DPCO, on everything? ... Ultimately, the loser is the taxpayer. This is carnage, as simple as that,” the Bench remarked.
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