The Supreme Court has questioned steep mark-ups on cancer medicines, calling the pricing disparity on essential drugs ‘carnage’, according to The Hindu BusinessLine.

The bench was hearing a case where a cancer medicine with a retailer cost of about Rs 2,700 was being sold to patients for Rs 27,000, Live Law reported. The court said patients were being extorted and demanded to know how such pricing gaps survive regulation.

Judges asked why the drug pricing control mechanism was failing on essential medicines. They sought answers from regulators on the margin allowed between wholesale cost and the maximum retail price.

The court noted that cancer patients often sell assets to pay for treatment. It said the state cannot look away when lifesaving drugs are priced beyond the reach of ordinary families.

What happens next: the court is expected to examine the pricing framework for essential drugs and may order the government to tighten controls on trade margins.