Mumbai, Sept. 30 -- Healthcare and pharmaceutical stocks came under pressure on Wednesday, with the Nifty Healthcare index falling 424.90 points, or 2.57 per cent, to 16,137.75, a day after the Supreme Court questioned the wide gap between the prices charged to retailers and the prices paid by consumers for medicines.

The decline was broad-based across the healthcare index, with 19 of the 20 stocks shown in the index trading in the red. Laurus Labs was the only stock in positive territory, gaining 0.05 per cent.

Among the major decliners, Fortis Healthcare fell 6.33 per cent, while Apollo Hospitals declined 5.70 per cent and Max Healthcare dropped 5.33 per cent. Glenmark Pharmaceuticals was down 4.37 per cent.

Other major pharmaceutica...