The Court was considering a petition moved by a person diagnosed with HER2- Negative Metastatic Breast Cancer and undergoing targeted therapy.
The treatment involved consuming three drugs for which the monthly expense came to over ₹63,000, out of which one life-saving drug, Ribocicilib costs ₹58,140.
The petitioner claimed to be a retired bank employee with a monthly pension of only ₹28,000.
Ribociclib is not manufactured in India and according to the petitioner if the medicine is manufactured in India, the cost will come down substantially and it will be affordable to her and other breast cancer patients.
Ribociclib presently enjoys patent monopoly and their manufactures are hence prevented from producing the medicine without the consent of the patent holder, Novartis.
Advocate Maitreyi Sachidananda Hegde, appearing for the petitioner, pointed out that the government can invoke Section 92 of the Patents Act, 1970 which provides for compulsory license and Section 100 which empowers the government to requisition life saving medicines in cases of extreme necessity.
It was also contended that the inaction by the government in providing access to medication infringes upon the right to health guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India and violates the directive principles of state policy which impose an obligation on the Government to ensure public health.
Source: Barandbench
