LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday ordered the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) to provide a copy of the record detailing recent hikes in the prices of medicines.
Justice Sajid Mahmood Sethi was hearing a writ petition that requested the high court to declare the September 22 decision of increasing rates of 94 essential medicines annulled.
During the hearing, a counsel for the drug regulator informed the court that committees on the issue of drug price hike have been constituted.
Petitioner Advocate Azhar Siddique’s counsel stated that the DRAP was making a wrong statement as no such committees were working. He contended that the prices of medicines were jacked up without any plausible reason.
He said that rates of essential life-saving medicines have been increased by up to 262 per cent in violation of the laws, which has added to the miseries of inflation-hit people. He pleaded with the bench to declare the increase illegal.
