Pharmaceuticals

Private hospitals have defied government’s reminder and pushed through Tuesday with their plan to hike their service fees, which they indicated may last for at least six months.

AVARICE: The way the association of private hospitals has been insisting on raising their already exorbitant fees, one shudders at the thought that it seems even the government cannot stop the gouging of the sick and the dying.

HEALTH Secretary Francisco Duque III has assured drug makers that increased sales volume will offset the P7-billion losses they incurred from the price cut in medicines since Sept. 15.

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang said yesterday private hospitals that will raise fees to cope with the cost of the implementation of the Cheaper Medicines Law could face sanctions.

MANILA, Philippines – Private hospitals will increase their administrative fees to recoup the losses incurred from the medicine price cuts.

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang yesterday called on the country’s private hospitals to reconsider their decision to raise fees as a response to the mandatory compliance with the Cheaper Medicine Law, saying this would be counter-productive.

DRUG PRICE REGULATION MANILA, Philippines—The president of a group of private hospitals Tuesday said its members had increased fees to recoup losses from 21 commonly used medicines whose prices were cut in half under the government’s drug price regulation scheme.

Recently, Malacanang approved Republic Act 9502, known as the Universally Accessible Cheaper and Quality Medicines Act of 2008 which not more than four years ago, enabled a mandated cap on retail prices to allow lower-income family access to these life-saving medications.

Although great strides have been made in efforts to make basic medicine affordable to the majority of Filipinos, the fight is far from over. Even at the risk of incurring the ire of our good friends from Pfizer who have taken time to explain Pfizer’s side of things, we will continue to write about the…

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday threatened to file cases against pharmacies and private hospitals that are not implementing the government price control on essential medicine pursuant to the Cheaper Medicine Law.

MANILA, Philippines—Health Secretary Francisco Duque III Sunday urged the public to bring complaints against drugstores that continue to sell medicine at exorbitant prices to their nearest health center.

MANILA, Philippines – Health Secretary Francisco Duque III yesterday warned all drug stores and pharmaceutical companies against non-compliance with the medicine price.

MANILA, Philippines–Health inspectors caught some drugstores and private hospitals violating a new executive order lowering prices of essential medicines, on Saturday, when the order took effect.

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Healthcare Associations of the Philippines (PHAP) yesterday said an inventory system is now in place to ensure rebates to drugstores and pharmacies in the implementation of the medicine price cut order on Aug. 15.

MANILA, Philippines – Private hospitals will “go bankrupt” if the government insists on implementing Executive Order 821 cutting the prices of 43 types of medicine on Saturday, according to Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines (PHAP).

MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang Sunday warned the public against the possibility of giant multinational drug companies “sabotaging” the government’s efforts to bring down the prices of medicine in the country.

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.

PFIZER Inc. chief executive Jeff Kindler said he was “disappointed” after the Philippine government ordered a reduction in drug prices, including the price of the company’s cholesterol treatment Lipitor.

GOVERNMENT intervention is needed to address market failures and inequities in the Philippine pharmaceuticals industry.

IT’S business as usual. More than one year has elapsed and yet many medicines are still being sold at their usual price.

THE pharmaceutical market is large—and growing. Worth P47 billion in 1999, it grew to P70 billion by 2003 and is probably worth P100 billion now.

Government should be as decisive in dealing with other sectors THE P100-billion pharmaceutical market has been breached, and drug giants blinked.

The latest word out of the Department of Health is that the pharmaceutical industry in the Philippines has offered to voluntarily lower the prices of 42 branded medicines. The medicines fall under 16 of the 21 “essential drugs” categories that the DoH had recommended to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for mandatory price capping under Republic Act…

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday reported that local pharmaceutical companies are set to voluntarily reduce prices of 23 anti-cancer and other essential drugs.

The senators are right. The government is taking too long to issue the order setting the maximum retail price for most-prescribed drugs as provided in the Cheaper Medicine Law passed by Congress one year ago. After a year, shouldn’t cheaper medicines be available in drugstores by now?

PRESIDENT Arroyo has ordered the Health Department to review the cuts made by medicine makers on 22 critical drugs before she decides whether or not to sign an Executive Order detailing what those cuts should be, an official said yesterday.

The drug industry’s worse case scenario is hopefully just about to happen. And as far as I can see, they have no one else to blame but themselves. Through the years, the drug lobby had been horrible. They bully and yes, I can almost believe allegations that they are not above bribery too but not…

MANILA, Philippines – Senate president Juan Ponce Enrile said a giant multinational drug firm had tried to stop the signing of an executive order putting a cap on the price of essential medicine by offering an alternative program to health officials involving the giving away of five million discount cards to indigent Filipinos.

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang assured the public yesterday that prices of certain medicines, including those taken by the elderly, will go down by half in the next 10 days even as officials turned the tables against Sen. Mar Roxas, who they said was actually the one opposing the reduction of the prices of drugs.

MANILA, Philippines – Pharmaceutical companies have until next week to submit a list of drugs and medicines whose prices they promised to cut by at least half, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said yesterday.