New Delhi: The Delhi government on Wednesday formed a nine-member committee to put a cap on the profit on medicines and consumables in the city's private hospitals and nursing homes, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said. The committee has been asked to submit its report before December 31.

The committee will also look into the issues of no compulsion for patients to buy drugs from in-house pharmacies of private hospitals, price to be charged by them for various diagnostic investigations, and a mechanism for eradicating commissions in medical practice.

Addressing the media here, Jain said the decision was taken after complaints about astronomical profits made by private hospitals on medicines and consumables. He said the committee had experts, including Indian Medical Association President K.K. Aggarwal and Delhi Medical Council (DMC) President Arun Gupta, among others.

"Take a genuine profit, but 1,000 per cent or 500 per cent margin is not acceptable," the Minister said.

Jain said the government had not fixed any particular profit limit and has left it to the experts to decide. He said many hospitals do not prescribe drugs on the National List of Essential Medicines, whose prices are decided by the central government.

The decision on the committee follows Jain's meetings with the IMA, DMC and experts.

A Delhi government official told IANS that the decision does not need the approval of Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and is not expected to run into any hurdles.

IANS