Cancer Treatment Costs in India to Fall by Up to 70%

The monthly cost of breast cancer treatment in India will drop sharply starting next month.

The shift began with Sarojam Radhakrishnan, a retired bank clerk in Kerala who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021. Her doctors prescribed targeted therapies that cost more than 63,000 rupees per month. Her family could not afford the bill. In 2022, she filed a petition with the Kerala high court, asking the government to lower the price of these essential medicines. The case eventually moved to the Supreme Court.

Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta reviewed the pricing structure during a hearing on September 29. They described the profit margins as carnage and extortion. One drug supplied to hospitals for 2,700 rupees was being sold for 27,000 rupees. The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority found that trade markups on some cancer drugs averaged 170 percent. In extreme cases, the markup exceeded 700 percent. A 30 percent cap on trade margins had already applied to 42 drugs, but the government has now extended that limit to 137 additional medicines.

The Department of Pharmaceuticals stated that the measure is expected to reduce medicine prices by up to 70 percent. The department said patients could save 2,500 crore rupees annually. This reduction targets the out-of-pocket costs that force many families into debt. Krishan Kalra, a former council member of the Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute, noted that few people attend free diagnosis camps in Gurgaon. He said patients are too scared to get tested because they have no money for treatment. Cancer drugs currently range from 38,000 to 380,000 rupees. Studies by the Public Health Foundation of India indicate that healthcare spending pushes about 55 million Indians below the poverty line each year.

Insurance coverage remains limited. The Ayushman Bharat scheme provides only 500,000 rupees of annual cover per family. That amount equals the cost of one dose of Kadcyla, a breast cancer drug for which patients may need up to 14 doses. Dr. Ravi Kannan, a surgical oncologist in Assam, called the new decision a welcome step if more patients can access the drugs they need. He noted that some families begin treatment but cannot sustain the costs over time.

India records about 1.56 million new cancer cases a year, up from 1.39 million in 2020. Jyotsna Singh, co-convener of the Working Group on Access to Medicines, said a total overhaul of healthcare was needed. She warned that companies and hospitals might look for legal loopholes or raise charges elsewhere to offset lower drug prices. The Supreme Court has asked government lawyers why the cap should apply only to cancer drugs and not to all non-patented medicines. The government has until October 27 to respond. The ruling came too late for Radhakrishnan, who died in September 2022 while her case was still pending.