Price cuts for new batches of medicines were postponed for 2010 as insufficient manpower and delays in information sourcing stymied the expansion of the coverage of the Cheap Medicines Act.

In the oversight committee hearing at the Senate on Wednesday, officials from the Department of Health (DOH) admitted that the number of drugs covered by the voluntary price reduction and the maximum retail price stays at 21.

There are 16 other medicines subject to government-mediated 10% to 15% price decrease since President Arroyo signed the Cheaper Medicines Act in August.

Five common drugs have been initially placed under maximum retail price (MRP), or a mandatory 50% price cut. These drugs include the Amlodipine for hypertension, Atorvastatin for anti-cholesterol, Azithromycin as antibiotic/antibacterial, Cytarabine and Doxorubicin for anti-neoplastics/anti-cancer.

Constraints

Robert Louie So, project management unit manager of the DOH National Drug Program, cited information sourcing as a reason for the delay.

“Getting information worldwide has been administratively cumbersome,’ So told lawmakers.

The DOH has to collect prescription habits and prices abroad to determine appropriate price reductions of comparable drugs sold locally.

He added that data from international health organizations and generics manufacturers have to be validated. “It takes time,” he said.

He also cited the delay in the Department of Budget and Management’s release of notices, which would allow the DOH to set up an office specifically tasked to assess the global pricing information.

Wait by January

Sen. Manuel Roxas expressed disappointment at the fact that the number of medicines under the MRP remains stuck at 21.

“The shocking discovery here is that there is no next list,” he fumed.

Sen. Roxas and Sen. Pia Cayetano disagreed with So that the sourcing of price information from other countries will eat up too much time.

Roxas, a former trade secretary, said the DOH could just send the list of drugs under consideration to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), which, in turn, could designate their foreign service staff to research the price differential of drugs sold here and abroad.

Sen. Cayetano said her staff could even do the task.

So assured the committee though that the next round of drugs to undergo price cuts would be unveiled by next year, after the DOH completes its assessment on the first 21 drugs under the MRP.

“We’re not saying there’s no second round…We’re continuing the studies,” So told the senators.

Compliance check

Nonetheless, the DOH reported that prices of some medicines not in the first list have been slashed. The officials cited Losartan, a drug against hypertension.

The DOH and DTI also entered into agreements with two companies to sell insulin preparations for only P525 to P550 per vial.

Insulin products are normally priced at P1,400 per vial.

The officials also reported that about 58 drugstores are under investigation for not adjusting their prices according to the MRP, while four have been issued with a cease-and-desist order. (abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak)

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