Deeply concerned over the increasing costs of medicines, the Federation of Medical Representatives Associations of India (FMRAI) has demanded to the central government to cut excise duty on medicines and to protect the patent laws in the country which are being misused by the multinational companies to make huge profits.

An FMRAI delegation met Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee in Parliament in this regard and submitted a memorandum on March 20. A spokesman for FMRAI informed that the Speaker had assured the delegation that their demands will be forwarded to a committee looking into such issues.

In its memorandum, the FMRAI has demanded that excise duty on medicines should either be scrapped or reduced to 8 per cent as medicines are increasingly becoming beyond the reach of poor people. The FMRAI also demanded to the government to impose the excise duty on the production cost instead of the Maximum Retail Price (MRP).

"It was only last year that the practice of charging excise duty on MRP started making the medicines costlier. Till then the excise duty was levied on the production cost. We are demanding to the government to return to the old practice and scrap the new one," an FMRAI spokesman said.

Stating that the government had reduced the excise duty on footwear and food, FMRAI said that, medicines are the most essential part of healthcare. Therefore, the government should consider making them available at affordable prices. Making medicines affordable to common man was among the electoral promises made by the UPA and they should implement it.

The FMRAI has asked the government to take suitable measures to protect the patent laws in the country which are being misused by the multinational countries to make huge profits.

The FMRAI sources said, the 'evergreening' of the patent was not allowed in India but some companies are indulging in this activity to make excessive profits. Evergreening is done when the patent of an existing medicine is on the verge of expiry. The MNCs tinker the product a bit and claim that it is a new product and thereby avail a new patent and reap profit.