Competition Commission of India to
conduct study of Pharma and Healthcare Sector
The Indian
Daily, Economic Times has recently reported that the Competition Commission of
India (CCI) has set the ball rolling for a detailed study of the Pharma and Healthcare services
sector. CCI has come across various instances in the pharmaceutical sector
where competition norms seem to have been violated over the past few years.
Against this backdrop, the CCI will soon carry out a study about the pharmaceutical
sector and healthcare delivery systems/services in Delhi and NCR (National
Capital Region).
As per the
reports, the CCI noted that the baseline study would look at the issues in the
sectors from the competition law perspective to understand whether there are
anti-competitive practices in this sector as part of larger efforts to clamp
down on unfair business practices.
As reported in
the Daily, the Commission said it has come across various issues in the
pharmaceutical sector and healthcare delivery systems over the past few years. Public
and private hospitals, insurance companies, pharmaceutical firms and their
associations, doctors and their associations, among others, would be covered
under the study.
These include
non-availability of essential medicines, increasing price of drugs, nexus
between pharmaceutical companies and pharmacists, nexus between pharmacists and
doctors, nexus between doctors and pathological laboratories, nexus between
doctors and pharmaceutical companies, and nexus between hospitals and insurance
companies etc.
On the IP
front, as reported in an Indian daily, the multinationals companies are
clamoring for inclusion of two key provisions in the Indian Patents Act – data
exclusivity and patent linkages. A group of Indian drug makers, Indian
Pharmaceutical Alliance has urged the government not to give in to the mounting
pressure from a section of US senators for tighter intellectual property (IP)
laws in India as the same would hurt the domestic industry and impede
consumers’ access to affordable healthcare.
Source: Details can be accessed at here
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