The Supreme Court on July 17, 2026, independently addressed issues of access to essential medicines and timely handling of right-to-life concerns. The case involves a Kerala woman with breast cancer who challenged high costs of treatment drugs in the state high court but died while proceedings continued. A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, noted the ongoing Kerala High Court case on affordability of patented cancer drugs. The top court issued notices and directed the Kerala High Court chief justice to expedite disposal. It emerged during the hearing that the original petitioner had passed away. Filed in 2022 by a patient from Ernakulam, the high court case was continued by the court on its own after her death due to broader public interest and was retitled to focus on high prices of patented life-saving medicines.
