AZE.US
A major price discrepancy involving the same medication at two pharmacies in Baku has prompted an official inspection.
A customer said the SS 550 medication, sold in a package of 50 tablets at a dosage of 500 mg, cost 123.02 manats, or about $72, at one pharmacy and 67.60 manats, or about $40, at another.
The customer shared receipts on social media and asked why the price of the same drug differed by nearly half.
According to Azerbaijan’s Center for Analytical Expertise under the Health Ministry, the maximum retail price approved by the Tariff Council is 123.02 manats.
The lower-priced sale was recorded at a pharmacy on Samad Vurgun Street in Baku’s Nasimi district. Following the complaint, inspectors visited the pharmacy.
Pharmacy representatives said the medication did not belong to the business. They claimed it belonged to a close relative of an employee and had been placed for sale at a reduced price because it was no longer needed.
Authorities said this constituted a violation of pharmaceutical sales regulations. An administrative protocol was drawn up under Article 221.1 of Azerbaijan’s Code of Administrative Offenses, and measures prescribed by law were taken.
The medication is used after kidney, heart and liver transplants to help prevent the body from rejecting the transplanted organ.
AZE.US