ગુજરાતી
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Patients are being openly looted by selling medicines at double the price
Hospitals are robbing patients by charging high prices for medicines at their medical stores.
Ahmedabad, 7 July 2026
Some pharmaceutical companies, in collaboration with some hospitals, are selling medicines to patients at a price much higher than the price of the medicines given during treatment.
Medicines given directly by hospitals to patients during treatment are being stolen from hospital stores. Although it is written on the samples that they are not for sale, they are also sold.
A store run by a private hospital is stealing medicines on a large scale. Where there is a difference of 3 times in the price of medicine.
Hostils Store
Many complaints have been received regarding prices of medicines and medical equipment in in-house medical stores of private hospitals in Gujarat.
It has been revealed that medical stores of private hospitals are offering medicines whose price ranges from Rs 10 to Rs 500 more than the market price.
Profit is taken directly against and within the law. But special methods are adopted for this.
Expensive brand and high price
No medical store can legally charge even a single rupee more than the MRP. But, in private hospitals, doctors prescribe the same branded medicines whose MRP is already fixed very high. Generic or other cheap brand medicine costing less than Rs. The same medicine is available at the private hospital shop for Rs 50. Sold at a branded price of Rs 200 to Rs 500.
monopoly
Big corporate or private hospitals put pressure on the family members of the patients to buy medicines and surgical instruments, syringes, gloves, catheters etc. only from the medical stores of the hospital. Even if outside stores provide the same medicine at a cheaper price, the hospital system refuses to accept it or makes the excuse that the quality of the outside medicine is not up to par.
Strict rules of government and court
To stop this financial exploitation of patients, the Food and Drug Regulatory Authority of Gujarat Government and the Supreme Court have issued important orders:
According to the Gujarat government circular, no private hospital can force a patient to buy medicines from its medical store.
The patient or his/her family members are completely free to purchase cheaper or generic medicines as per their choice from any recognized outside medical store or PM Jan Aushadhi Kendra.
information
Hospitals must post a sign in large print where patients can see stating “Patients can purchase medications wherever they wish.”
monopoly
The medicines which are given to the patients during treatment in the hospital and which are prescribed by the hospital, are not available in the surgical companies in the area of two to three kilometers. These companies had a monopoly in the field of hospital social medicine.
These figures are in rupees, comparing the cost and selling price of medicines.
Name of Medicine – MRP – Official Price – Price Full Difference
Limpacit-PR – 23.00 – 19.38 – 21.72
Benixon Tablets – 40 – 14.00 – 11.88 – 14.12
Data Goliban-2 mg – 203.44 – 06.24 – 18.20
Aerotab IAP – 18.06 – 19.04 – 18.08
wallscreen 100 – 38.38 – 65.25 – 30.13
Wallscreen 40 – 36.40 – 41.24 – 32.65
Marks-50-400 – 28.38 – 18.38 – 26.00
Odover Gold 20 mg – 110.63 – 18.38 – 82.25
The total number of small and big private hospitals, nursing homes and multispecialty clinics in Gujarat is between 8 to 10 thousand.
The private sector has a major stake in the medical infrastructure of the state. We can understand this number in more detail based on various official government statistics:
2500 big private hospitals are officially on the government panel under the Ayushman Bharat (PM-JAY) scheme.
city
Most of the super-specialty and corporate private hospitals in Gujarat are located in four major cities of the state. There are about 1800 to 2 thousand small and big private hospitals and nursing homes in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar.
It has more than 2500 private hospitals in Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot.
Considering only the big hospitals with facilities like operation theaters and ICUs in super-speciality and multispecialty, the number is 3500-4 thousand. The remaining number includes general day-care centers and small nursing homes such as gynaecology-pediatrics.
However, not all hospitals do this.
medical store
The total number of small and big chemists and druggists (medical stores) in Gujarat is around 35 to 40 thousand.
There are about 3 thousand registered medical stores in Ahmedabad city itself.
About 8 to 10 thousand pharmacies are working in Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot.
There are 500 Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Jan Aushadhi Kendras in Gujarat. Where generic medicines are available 50 to 90 percent cheaper than the market.
business
Gujarat is called the medicine hub of India. About 35 percent of the total medicines produced in the country are produced in Gujarat alone.
Gujarat’s domestic pharmaceutical market is worth about Rs 15 thousand crores. Which increases by 12 to 15 percent every year.
The number of wholesalers in the state is around 8 to 10 thousand. In wholesale trade, the profit on branded medicines is usually 8 to 12 percent.
The wholesaler’s margin in a generic or franchise business can range from 20 to 40 percent.
retail trade
The retailer has a fixed profit of 16 to 20 percent in branded allopathic medicines. But many companies also offer double profits.
oat
For over-the-counter (OTC) products—such as balms, health drinks, and cosmetics—the profit margin ranges from 20% to 30%.
In the case of generic medicines and surgical items or equipment, retailers earn profits ranging from 50% to 200%; the MRP is very high, while the purchase cost is very low.
New Trends
Medicines are increasingly being sold through corporate and e-pharmacy chains. Large medical store brands and those in malls are offering customers flat discounts of 10% to 20%, creating stiff competition for traditional, small-scale medical stores. Currently, the PCD franchise business—which involves the marketing and distribution of medicines and requires a modest investment of ₹3 lakh to ₹10 lakh—is growing rapidly in Gujarat due to its high profit margins. (Translated from Gujarati via Google Translate; please refer to the original report.)
