SHILLONG: The Meghalaya unit of the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) in a letter to Chief Minister Conrad Sangma raised concern about unavailability of medicines in the market.
DK Gupta, chief general secretary of LJP Meghalaya, pointed out the arbitrary prices of medicines in the market and unavailability of medicines after 8 pm in the state. In the letter, Gupta said several doctors under private practice prescribe costly medicines which can have cheaper alternatives. Giving an example, he said Montair – 10 by Cipla is priced over Rs 200 in retail which can be substituted with the same formula named Montecip – 10 by the same company for Rs 30.
He, however, pointed out that cheaper substitutes are not available in most of the pharmacies. “Owners say they do not get the supply of cheaper medicines by their whole sellers,” he added.
LJP also requested the chief minister to keep in check the pricing of medicines. In order to make medicines available during the night, Gupta asked the government to make arrangement for a 24×7 pharmacy or rotation of pharmacies in every locality.
