GST Council May Consider Exempt IGST On Cancer Drug Import

The GST Council is likely to waive duty on the personally imported cancer drug dinutuximab. Dinutuximab (Qarziba), a cancer drug, is currently subject to a 12% IGST when imported by persons for their own use, Business Today reports.

The Fitment Committee has proposed that the medication, which costs Rs 36 lakh, be exempt from GST because families and patients typically acquire the money to purchase it through crowdfunding.
In addition, it's anticipated that centres of excellence are likely to be exempt from paying the Integrated GST when importing medications and Food For Special Medical Purposes (FSMP) used to treat uncommon disorders. These imports currently incur an IGST of 5% or 12.5%.

Top government officials had been urged by a parliamentary group to consider eliminating the GST on cancer medications and implement strict steps to control the cost of prescription prescriptions and radiation therapy.

Members of the panel emphasised that cancer treatment is "very expensive" in the nation and urged the health ministry officials to urgently examine the whole cost of cancer care.

The council recommended that the government take strict steps to control the cost of cancer treatment choices like radiation therapy and prescription medications.

In response, the government informed the parliamentary panel that the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), which oversees drug pricing, had so far reduced the MRP (maximum retail price) of medications used to treat cancer by up to 90%, rationalised trade margins for 49 drugs, and fixed the ceiling prices for 86 formulations.