The generic version of the drug oxytocin used in Maharashtra public health services costs Rs 4.82 per vial. Kerala health services procured the generic version for Rs 5.9 per vial. Now doctors are shocked to learn that Karnataka Antibiotics and Pharmaceuticals Ltd (KAPL), the public sector company that will have a monopoly on manufacturing oxytocin will be selling it at Rs 15.58 plus 12% GST, which is Rs 17.78 per vial, more than three times the cost of the generic versions. Ironically, this is more even than what the multinational Pfizer charges (Rs 13.77) for its brand.

On June 27, the health ministry had announced that from July 1 no private manufacturer would be allowed to manufacture oxytocin for domestic use and no retail chemists could sell it. Only KAPL would be allowed to manufacture the drug from that date. That deadline has subsequently been extended to August end.

"How can the central government, which has ordered that doctors should write generic names of drugs to bring down healthcare costs, justify selling the drug at a higher price than private manufacturers?Isn't it ironic that low-cost quality generics produced in India will be exported while Indians will be forced to buy a more expensive version produced by a government-owned unit?" asked Dr KV Babu, a public health activist from Kerala.

Repeated attempts to get a response from KAPL on the issue proved futile.

"More than the price, I am worried about the availability and quality. Can a single company fulfill the demand of the whole country? Any supply problem could result in women dying in child birth," said Dr Kammappa KA, a senior gynaecologist.

