‘Patients running from one store to other’: West Asia war hits cancer management, sparks shortage of 2 common chemo drug

Two commonly used, affordable chemotherapy medicines — Cisplatin and Carboplatin — have gone off the shelves across the country over the last two weeks, prompting oncologists to raise an alarm. This is because of the increase in prices of raw materials, fuelled by the Hormuz crisis, and the inability of companies to raise prices since they are under the government’s price control ambit, according to industry experts. “Our hospital pharmacy has run out of Cisplatin and Carboplatin. Nearly seven in 10 patients in my clinic need one of these drugs. They are prescribed for oral, lung, cervical, oesophageal, ovarian, and breast cancer, among others. Now, we have cancer patients running from one store to the other in search of this medicine. My colleagues in other cities are also facing a similar situation,” said Dr Shyam Agarwal, chairman of medical oncology at Sir Gangaram Hospital. Dr Abhishek Shankar, oncologist from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, echoed a similar concern: “There has been a shortage of these drugs for at least the last two weeks.” Another Delhi-based oncologist said that lower doses have completely gone off the shelves though higher doses are still available in some stores. In Mumbai, Dr Mohan Menon, medical oncologist at Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre, said that there has been a shortage of all platinum-derived chemotherapy agents, adding the root cause of the failure is the increase in prices of platinum globally. “This precious metal was trading at Rs 2,700 per gram in mid-2023 but has now skyrocketed to over Rs 7,800 per gram,” he said. Wholesalers and stockists, meanwhile, are fast running out of supplies. The owner of a major retail pharmacy in Delhi said: “Almost no medical store in the country has these medicines at the moment. Most stockists and wholesalers have run out of them. With the limited stock they have, they are saying they will sell it directly to patients instead of retailers.” While the increasing cost of raw materials has elevated prices of many medical products, especially those based on petrochemicals, since the start of the war, the companies producing these two drugs have maintained the prices. These medicines come under Drug Pricing Control Order (DPCO), which regulates the prices of all essential medicines in the country. Any drug under the DPCO can only increase its price in tandem with the average rise in wholesale prices each year. While the prices of platinum have been going up — owing to a deficit in the world’s largest supplier, South Africa, and the growing usage of the metal in the automotive sector besides in production of green hydrogen — the current West Asia crisis has added fuel to the fire. “Most of India’s platinum is imported from Gulf countries, which have been impacted due to the current conflict,” said an industry expert, who did not wish to be named. United Arab Emirates is the biggest supplier of platinum for India, accounting for nearly half the imports. Anonna Dutt is a Principal Correspondent who writes primarily on health at the Indian Express. She reports on myriad topics ranging from the growing burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension to the problems with pervasive infectious conditions. She reported on the government’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic and closely followed the vaccination programme. Her stories have resulted in the city government investing in high-end tests for the poor and acknowledging errors in their official reports. Dutt also takes a keen interest in the country’s space programme and has written on key missions like Chandrayaan 2 and 3, Aditya L1, and Gaganyaan. She was among the first batch of eleven media fellows with RBM Partnership to End Malaria. She was also selected to participate in the short-term programme on early childhood reporting at Columbia University’s Dart Centre. Dutt has a Bachelor’s Degree from the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune and a PG Diploma from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. She started her reporting career with the Hindustan Times. When not at work, she tries to appease the Duolingo owl with her French skills and sometimes takes to the dance floor. ... Read More Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram