In last two years, prices of some items have risen up to fourfold. Drug traders and the directorate of drug control authorities have said all imported medicines have gone up a bit lately due to increasing value of dollar.

"Some drugs in the market are widely used but we do not approve of them. Prices of those are beyond our control," said Dr Abdul Hakim, deputy director of the drug control directorate. "Prices of the approved ones increased by not more than Tk 4," he added.

At different drugstores in the city, it has been found that prices of some medicines have increased by Tk 1000 per unit.

Thousands of patients are now hostage to a handful of importers, who with the connivance of Directorate of Drug Administration, have raised the prices unreasonably, said sources.

When asked, the drug control authorities could not say the number of drug importers in the country and the number of items they import.

Different drug traders said the price of Stilamin, an essential injection for cancer patients, was Tk 2,000 a few years ago, but now the same medicine sells at Tk 5,900.

Hebabig injection for children would sell at Tk 2,500 to Tk 3,000 three to four months ago while now it costs at least Tk 4,025. The adult version of the same medicine, which would sell at Tk 4,000, now sells at Tk 5,000.

"Prices of most of the medicines have increased more or less by 20 per cent in recent months due to increase in dollar price. And some items which are short in supply are being sold at higher rates," said Anwar Hossain, general manager of Lazz Pharma Ltd.

Oroxyne, a hormonal medicine, would cost Tk 276 for a pack of 200 tablets (each 50mg) a year ago. Recently, the importer has raised the price to Tk 600 for the same pack.

The same tablet (pack of 200pcs) of 100mg, marketed under the trade name Eltroxyne, sells at Rs 75 in India, and not more than baht. 170 in Thailand. If converted to taka, the prices will not be more than Tk 150 and Tk 250 respectively.

"I don't understand why the price is so high here when the drug industry is booming in our country," said Azizur Rashid who needs to buy the Oroxyne on a regular basis.

Some drugs like Doxorubicin are not available in the market for some days. The price of that medicine shot up to Tk 3,000 from usual Tk 1,400 before going out of the market, said a pharmacist at Shahbagh yesterday.

In some cases, the importing pharmaceutical companies sell the life-saving drugs on condition that the pharmacies will have to buy also the items that do not sell much.

"In such cases, we have no alternative but to up the prices of the main products," said a medicine trader.

Sources at the Druggists and Chemists Association said the directorate of drug control does not control the prices of imported drugs and it leads to growing smuggling of drugs.

"Prices of smuggled medicines are low. But buying those could prove dangerous as often they are not preserved following proper maintenance procedures," said Anwar, from Lazz Pharma Ltd.

Besides, higher prices of imported medicines encourage the sale of counterfeit drugs on the local market.

On numerous occasions, the drug testing laboratory has identified spurious makes of different drugs.

When asked about the increased prices of medicines, Rafiq Hossain a relative of a cancer patient, said,"It does not cause me to raise an eyebrow. The government does nothing to contain the prices of essential food items, let alone control the prices of medicines."