THIS is apropos of the letter ‘Soaring medicine prices’ (July 2). I do agree that the expenses incurred on luxurious trips for doctors for promoting pharmaceutical companies products is a sort of a bribe.

One of my friends who worked for a pharmaceutical company informed me that hardly 20 per cent of what consumers pay is the actual price of medicine(s) while 80 per cent of what we pay goes to the promotion of pharmaceutical companies’ products like services, medicine literature, gifts, foreign tours, local inland trips and cars on installments.

So if a medicine costs Rs20, it will be sold for Rs100.

This 500 to 600 per cent overhead is braved by the poor and middle class people of Pakistan.

Now that health has been devolved as per the 18th Amendment, PMA, PIMA, other related organisations and, above all, the provincial government should control all unethical practices adopted by some practitioners otherwise the people of Pakistan will feel that PMA and PIMA were ineffective representative bodies.

DR SOOMRO Karachi