KARACHI: As a price hike looms, many medicines are ‘out of stock’ for the past few months while some are in ‘short supply’, retailers said while talking to Dawn.

Multinational drug makers have already increased medicine prices by 20-70 per cent in the last one month.

In the market, those medicines are in short supply whose prices are set to rise.

However, retailers are said to be colluding as they have put on hold the sale of certain medicines and will bring out them once the new prices are announced by the manufacturers.

After getting a revised enhanced price list from the distributors, many retailers cut the original prices printed on the boxes and instead write the new prices.

Many manufactures have suspended the production of medicines few months ago which is another reasons causing shortage of drugs in the markets.

Retailers in various areas said Benatus and Benadryl syrups, Stematil tablet, Laxis tab, Betnesol tab and Betnesol N drop, Actified DM syrup, Actified P Cold, Arinac tablet, Arinac Forte, Augmentin tablets, Cufcol tablet, Thyroxin, Tixilix syrup, Tegral tablet, Panadol CF tablet, etc are not easily available.

They said many medicines were arriving after a gap of one to two months with higher price tags.

However, a chemist shop owner said the shortage of medicines has so far not been serious ‘as only 100-150 drugs are in short supply as compared to over 60,000 registered medicines’.

He said many companies, who have failed to bear rising cost of production, have suspended their production.

Published in Dawn, March 13th, 2016