EXECUTIVE POWER VERSUS PARLIAMENTARY MANDATE IN PHARMACEUTICAL PRICE REGULATION IN PAKISTAN: A CRITICAL LEGAL AND PUBLIC-HEALTH REVIEW OF THE DRAP ACT, 2012 AND THE 2024 DEREGULATION

Abstract

Pharmaceutical pricing in Pakistan lies at the intersection of statutory regulation, constitutional legality, market sustainability, and access to medicines. In February 2024, Pakistan deregulated maximum retail prices (MRPs) for medicines outside the National Essential Medicines List (NEML), creating an important question about the relationship between executive policy-making and the pricing functions assigned to the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) by Parliament. Objective: This critical narrative review evaluates whether the 2024 partial deregulation is readily reconcilable with the DRAP Act, 2012, the Drugs Act, 1976, and relevant constitutional principles, while integrating emerging empirical evidence on medicine prices, affordability, and availability