CJP orders hospitals to bring down prescription costs
Prescription costs should be between Rs500 to Rs1,000, remarked the chief justice
March 27, 2018
ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Mian Saqib Nisar ordered on Tuesday to bring down prescription costs in hospitals.
Hearing a case pertaining to sub-standard stents, the chief justice remarked that the prescription costs should be between Rs500 to Rs1,000.
“If you go to a doctor, the medicines prescribed cost Rs5,000 to Rs7,000,” the chief justice observed.
He then asked for the prescription for medicines required by patients of heart, blood pressure and diabetes, which was submitted by Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology head Dr Azhar Kiyani.
Chief Justice Nisar remarked that the low-cost prescriptions' information should be featured in newspapers as well. “If the governments have any reservations, they may submit them to the court,” he observed.
The court also ordered provincial governments to ensure that necessary medicines and instruments are present in hospitals.
The chief justice observed that the cost of dialysis has to be brought down as well, adding that the stents will now cost Rs100,000 to Rs60,000.
The case has been adjourned for two weeks.
