In early August, the health administration of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) decided to tackle a long-standing issue: the expenses incurred by civic hospital patients when purchasing prescribed medicines from private medical shops. Almost a month after the announcement, the issue is likely to be partially resolved by next week.

BMC-run hospitals are supplied medicines and other necessary equipment by the Central Purchasing Department (CPD), according to an existing list approved by civic officials, known as the scheduled list. There are twelve schedules, and each one includes a variety of items, such as injections, tablets, ointments, cancer medicines, etc. In total, all schedules cover around 1,779 items.