In Sudan, Medicines and Poisons Act 2009 compels premarketing authorization of pharmaceuticals. The Central Medical Supplies Corporation (CMS); which is the government medicine supply agency, did not comply with the law till recently. This extraordinary situation caused a number of scandals that were widely publicised in the media and national press. In this article, factors that contribute to the procurement of low cost, quality medicines were investigated by reviewing available literature on the topic. This point of view mainly relied on archival records, national newspapers, courts’ cases against CMS; and personal experience of the author who is a member of staff at the Ministry of Health. The purchasing of registered medicines in lieu of prevalence of substandard medicines worldwide can, in principle, be in the interests of both CMS and drug importers and, therefore, improve public health, in general, and benefit patients, in particular. CMS needs to review its policies and practices that affect quality, prices and availability of medicines.