Govt Agrees to Price Increase of Paracetamol Products

The Federal Government has agreed to an increase in the price of paracetamol products after severe shortage of Panadol across the country as GlaxoSmithKline reduced production and announce a force majeure since the drug was no longer feasible for production.

According to the details, Federal Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar held a meeting with the heads of main pharmaceutical companies to discuss the retail price of paracetamol poducts.

During the meeting, it was decided to increased the price of paracetamol tablets (500mg) to Rs. 2.35, paracetamol extra (500mg) to Rs. 2.75, and syrup to Rs. 117.6, which is almost half of the price increase previously demanded by the pharmaceutical companies.

Panadol Shortage

It is pertinent to mention that there has been a severe shortage of paracetamol products, including Panadol in the market for the past couple of weeks as government rejected demands of pharmaceutical companies for a price hike for these products, which forced them to reduce production as the drug was no longer profitable.

The situation was made worse by the increased demand caused by a surge in diseases as a result of the severe flooding and the outbreak of dengue across the country.

Furthermore, GlaxoSmithKline had announced a force majeure in the production of Panadol as the company found it hard to continue production at the lower prices as cost of production had increased rapidly.

Read more: Panadol Alternatives Available in Pakistan As Medicine Faces Nationwide Shortage.

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