| RESEARCH PAPER |
|
| Year : 1998 | Volume
: 30
| Issue : 6 | Page : 404-407 |
Ambiguous drug pricing: a physician’s dilemma
V Roy, S Rewari
Correspondence Address:
V Roy
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
Objectives: To survey the variation in prices of drugs used in the management of cardiovascular diseases in the Indian market.
Method: A review of drug prices mentioned in the July- September (1997) edition of Drugs Today was done. The retail cost of a drug being manufactured by different companies in the same strength, dosage form and number was compared.
Results: A total of 84 formulations were compared. Variation in prices of all the drugs was observed and it ranged from 2.8% to 3406%. It was observed that greater was the number of companies manufacturing the drug, more was the variation in prices.
Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that there exists a wide variation in prices of drugs manufactured by different companies. In the absence of comparative information on drug prices and their quality it is difficult for physicians to prescribe the most economical treatment. There is an urgent need to provide adequate information to physicians regarding cost, bioequivalence and quality of drugs.
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