Kathmandu. The government has initiated investigation into the pricing process of medicines with the suspicion that medicines were being sold at a higher price than the cost of production or imported in collusion between health workers and manufacturers.
The Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers has also directed the Ministry of Health and Population to form a probe committee and submit a report. The government has initiated investigation after receiving a complaint that Director General of the Department of Drug Administration Narayan Prasad Dhakal had approved the price hike of medicines without following the legal process.
The letter to the Ministry of Health has directed to form a three-member committee with the involvement of thematic experts. The probe committee has been given the task of preparing a detailed report on the assurance of the price determination process of medicines, whether the process was followed in price determination and if the price was determined by violating the process, the officials involved and the producers and businessmen.
A total of seven days have been set for the investigation. The Minister of Health and Population has presented Director General of the Department of Health Dhakal to the Ministry of Health and Population on suspicion of irregularities in price fixing.
