Announcements should be realisticPerhaps the only positive that Prime Minister Imran Khan will take away from the drug-prices episode is that he will realise the limits of prime ministerial power. They didn’t, and this was despite the series of raids conducted by the Drug Regulation Agency of Pakistan. It is now being said that prices are proper, and the increases merely reflected the devaluation of the rupee. The pharmaceuticals industry must accept some of the blame, but it cannot be ignored that apart from the precipitate fall in the value of the rupee, drug prices have gone up worldwide, and thus dollar prices have gone up, making the effect worse. However, that would require the sort of deep consideration the Prime Minister’s orders did not show.

Source: Pakistan Today April 16, 2019 20:25 UTC