Drug price board creation sought

Three lawmakers sought to amend the watered-down version of the Cheaper Medicines Law with the inclusion of the Drug Price Regulatory Board (DPRB), which would put a cap on all types of medicine.

Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. of Ilocos Norte and Jonathan dela Cruz of Abakada-Guro party-list joined Representatives Ferjenel Biron of Iloilo, the original author of Republic Act 9502, in lobbying for House Bill 6628, which would bring down further the prices of drugs.

Reports of collusion between the government and multinational pharmaceutical companies surfaced after the Arroyo administration delayed the signing of the Executive Order that would force drug manufacturers and distributors to lower down the price of their medicines.

“The ability of big pharmaceutical firms to lobby for the suspension of a signing of an EO to set Maximum Retail Price (MRP) on drugs considered by the Department of Health for price reduction exposes the glaring flaw of RA 9502,” the three lawmakers said in a joint statement.

Dela Cruz said during the weekly forum Kapihan sa Sulo that the DPRB was included in the Biron-sponsored House version of the law, but was deleted by members of the Bicameral Conference Committee upon the insistence of Sen. Mar Roxas.

“Present events prove that it is impossible to reduce the prices of essential medicines without the proposed DPRB,” dela Cruz stressed during the forum.

“Pinning our hopes mainly on parallel importation and the goodness of the pharmaceutical firms…do not work. We are persuaded by honest conviction that the best interest of the people can be served only by reviving the Drug Price Regulatory Board,” he added.

President Gloria Arroyo said in her State of the Nation Address that she “supported the tough House version of the Cheaper Medicine Law,” referring to the regulatory board.

Mrs. Arroyo, however, signed into law the “weak version” of her critics, referring to the deregulated drug industry backed by Roxas.

Roxas recently said that there are reports that foreign pharmaceutical companies led by a powerful lobby group met with President Arroyo secretly as part of a “conspiracy to circumvent the Cheaper Medicines Law” and “keep critical drugs out of the reach of the poor.”  –Sammy Martin, Reporter, Manila Times