LUCKNOW, Oct. 4 -- A statewide crackdown on medicine pricing has uncovered instances where hospital pharmacies allegedly bought medicines at substantially lower prices but charged patients close to the printed maximum retail price (MRP), prompting the Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration (FSDA) to seek explanations from hospitals, suppliers and manufacturers.

According to an official release issued by the FSDA, the findings emerged during a special inspection campaign conducted on Saturday at 52 hospital pharmacies in 17 districts, including nine government medical colleges, 11 private medical colleges and 32 private hospitals.

Rather than focusing only on the availability and quality of medicines, FSDA teams examined the e...