Evaluation of price disparity among generic medicines in india

Objective: Even though the generic medicines are considered to be a cheaper option compared to the branded medicines in India, there is a need to study the price disparity among the generic medicines. Hence, the present study aims to evaluate the price disparity in generic medicines under Government Scheme in India. Methods: It was found that there were 101 generic medicines approved at a fixed price for procurement under the Central Government Health Services scheme. The prices of these medicines were searched for their availability as well as for current price in Bureau of Pharma PSUs of India (under Jan Aushadhi scheme) website. Results: The major category of the generic medicine were antibiotics (53.45%) followed by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (10.89%) and cardiovascular (6.93%) drugs. It was evident from the result obtained by comparing the prices across categories that there were both positive and negative deviations. Conclusion: It was very much evident from the results of the mean of differences that even though fixed price contracts being in place, there is a price disparity in the generic drug prices seen under Government Scheme.