LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Friday expressed serious dismay over the sale of lifesaving injection Actemra in the black market and increase in prices of Covid-19-related medicines.

Without naming Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid, Justice Sajid Mehmood Sethi observed that if a federal minister could not find the injection in the open market, what one could say about the helplessness of common people.

The railways minister was infected with Covid-19 last month. After recovering, he had told a press conference that he was unable to get the injection for even Rs500,000. He said National Disaster Management Authority Chairman Lt Gen Muhammad Afzal had arranged the injection for him.

Justice Sethi was hearing a petition filed by Judicial Activism Panel’s Advocate Azhar Siddique against the increase in drug prices and unavailability of Actemra injection.

The judge observed that private hospitals were charging exorbitant rates from Covid-19 patients and there was no authority to keep a check on them. He directed the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) and healthcare commission to submit reports on drug prices and the mechanism to govern private hospitals, respectively.

The judge also ordered the Drap to ensure sale of medicines on controlled prices. The hearing was adjourned till Monday.

The petition pleaded that coronavirus had been spreading rapidly in the country but the prices of masks and other necessary items had skyrocketed. It said the price of one packet of chloroquine tablet reached Rs3,000, while the lifesaving injection Acterma cost up to Rs1 million.

It maintained that the Drap had failed to control the prices of these items, and requested the court to take action against the responsible and bring the price of these essential drugs and items to an affordable level.

On July 6, the Drap had told the court that there were 10,519 Actemra injections available in the country to be used for Covid-19 patients.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2020