Kerala High Court cites Mammootty film on cancer treatment costs

The Kerala High Court has invoked the 1994 Mammootty film 'Sukrutham' to highlight that the financial burden of cancer treatment remains unchanged three decades later. Justice Harisankar V Menon, in an epilogue to a judgment on the exorbitant pricing of patented cancer medicines, cited a scene where the protagonist refuses treatment to avoid crushing debt. The court called for collective action by the government, the public and stakeholders to ensure financial condition does not decide access to treatment.

The observation came in a suo motu proceeding originating from a petition by a breast cancer patient seeking affordable access to a patented drug. The judgment examined the central government's power under the Patent Act, 1970, to intervene when life-saving patented medicines become unaffordable. Justice Menon stressed the need for a balance between affordability and incentives for medicine development.