NEW DELHI : A decision by the Supreme Court of India to make testing for coronavirus free places an unfair financial burden on medical firms and could see a reduction in testing, already among the world's lowest, said business leaders and health experts.
The concern is that private medical firms, like many businesses in India are struggling financially, and could go under if they tested for free without financial assistance.
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, executive chairperson of Biocon Limited, one of India's biggest biotech firms, said private institutions could not be expected to operate on credit. "Humanitarian in intent but impractical to implement - I fear testing will plummet," Shaw said on twitter on Thursday about the court judgement. "Thes