Though hospital managements and even the Ministry of Health and Population (MoPH) have knowledge about the unfair practice in the pharmacies, no action has been taken till date. [break]
MoPH had brought a three-year interim Act in 2006 to check unfair practice in pharmacies but it is not yet implemented. The Act provides that the zonal, sub-regional, regional and central hospitals must have their own pharmacies.
But officials at the Drug Administration of MoPH express their helplessness in implementing the Act. "Hospital administrations get a huge amount of money in rent from those who run the medicine shops. So, they are reluctant to run their dispensaries inside the hospital," Chief Drug Administrator of MoPH, Bhupendra Bahadur Thapa, said.
He said despite repeated attempts, the ministry has not been able to enforce the Act. "The pharmaceutical market is not fair. So, we are facing difficulties," he added. He said the ministry had taken initiative to implement the Act but no hospital complied.
As per regulations of the Department of Drug Administration (DDA), pharmacies can charge only 16 percent commission on drugs. "But the 16 percent commission does not cover the expenses of the pharmacies given the high rentals," Thapa said.
Hospitals like Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital and Bir Hospital charge very high rentals from the pharmacies. Bir Hospital takes Rs 5 million yearly from a single pharmacy. The hospital has about half a dozen pharmacies in its surroundings.
Thapa concedes that patients are purchasing expensive and unnecessary drugs from the pharmacies around the hospitals. He also said that the pharmacies can influence doctors´ prescriptions.
"Ultimately that hits the patients from far-flung areas who come to these government hospitals in the hope of getting quality medical service at a reasonable price," Secretary of the Consumer Rights Forum Ramchandra Simkhada said. He claimed that Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital´s pharmacies are paying Rs 5 million monthly. "It is difficult for common people to know the actual price of the drugs," Simkhada said adding, "They do not bargain and they are in no position to choose drugs either."
Due to lack of the hospital´s own guidelines on medicine, doctors prescribe medicine as per their wish and they prescribe only those medicines for which companies provide them incentives.
"We ask the price of commodities and we have a choice there whether to buy a certain product or not. But in case of drugs, we don´t have an option," Thapa said adding, "We do not ask about the quality and price of the drugs. So, the pharmacists extort as much as they can."
He said the patients can get medicine at affordable price if hospitals run their dispensaries.
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