Spike in Cost of Raw Material Could Impact Your Medical Bill: What We Know

How will the rising costs of raw material for essential medicines impact your medical bill?

(Photo: The Quint)

Your medical bills may see a spike, thanks to a steep rise in prices of certain raw materials for essential drugs, called active pharmaceutical ingredients (API).

The spike in costs of API, especially ones imported from China, was reported towards the end of 2022. 

Why is it concerning? The cost of medical raw materials or APIs has been seeing a steady rise since the beginning of the pandemic, with the prices going up by over 100 percent as compared to pre-pandemic levels.

However, the reason experts are on edge is that the improvement in logistics and the supply chain post the COVID pandemic should have corrected the situation by now.

How will it affect your medical bills? If the price of these raw materials continue to soar, and the strain on pharmaceutical industries doesn't ease up, experts are concerned that the price of essential medicines may also be affected.

Which drugs are effected: According to reports, high-volume key antibiotics including azithromycin and amoxicillin, especially ones imported from China, have been affected.

In fact, according to the report in Times of India, the price of only raw materials that are imported from China have gone up.

During the pandemic, in trying to meet the high demand, the price of other drugs including fever and pain relief medication, paracetamol, Meropenem (antibiotic), Metformin (anti-diabetic) all shot up.

Behind the scenes: The dramatic increase is being attributed to multiple reason, including,

•  Inflation

• A chain reaction from the increase in cost of solvents, freight, and other key starting materials

• A monopoly and gatekeeping of few agents over import of certain products

• Even though most countries have opened up full-fledged operations, the ongoing lockdowns in China have continued to hinder trade of these APIs