‘Big Pharma’ lobbyists

By Dahli Aspillera
Malaya – August 1, 2007

‘Filipino lobbyists against HB 307, the Cheap Medicine Bill are people’s enemies. These lobbyists are worse than terrorists.’

The big multinational pharmaceutical companies have supposedly put up a P1 Billion slush fund to block passage of a law for cheaper medicines. This P1 billion is intended to bribe Filipino politicians, media, and whoever else is there to bribe, to vote against, and kill this cheap medicine bill.

This columnist will donate her next salary as reward to anyone who will provide accurate names of Filipino lobbyists against this bill, and whoever else these lobbyists have bribed. The names of Filipino lobbyists who are working and being paid generously by Big Pharma ought to be made public. This column will print the lobbyists’ names and the companies they represent.

Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas has warned multinational pharmaceutical firms against carrying out their supposed P1 billion lobby fund to derail the passage of a bill seeking to reduce medicine prices.

Filipinos who want the prices of medicines as expensive as possible so Big Pharma can make obscene profits. Poor Filipinos die with prescriptions unfilled by their beds. Majority of Filipinos cannot afford to fill prescriptions.

These Filipinos who are lobbying to keep the prices of medicines in the Philippines artificially high are criminals, terrorists.

Terrorists kill whom they believe to be their enemies. Filipino pharmaceutical lobbyists are killing people they don’t even know; killing the helpless, sick, elderly, impoverished Filipinos.
"Our people desperately need access to affordable medicine. The new Congress has no other recourse but to quickly pass the bill. It is bad enough that the previous Congress failed to pass the bill," Gullas pointed out.

Gullas and Iloilo Rep. Ferjenel Biron introduced cheap medicine bills. The bill seeks to provide Filipinos increased access to inexpensive drugs by reinforcing the parallel importation scheme of the state-owned Philippine International Trading Corp. (PTIC), and by allowing any entity to import patented drugs sold cheaper in other countries.
Health protection in the country remains grossly inadequate, with only one of every three citizens covered by medical insurance.

Government’s insufficient financial resources have hampered universal health insurance coverage.

Filipinos have to take out of their own pockets more than 40 percent of all health-related spending, including the purchase of high-priced medicines.

Gullas: "Congress should promptly relax existing patent rules by declaring that parallel importation will not violate trademarks, as long as the drugs brought in are determined to be genuine counterparts produced in other countries."

Allowing unrestrained competition is one sure way for Congress to help drive down drug prices, and make them more affordable to most Filipinos."

For example, Norvasc costs P44.75 here, but only P6 in India. Mefenamic acid under the brand name Ponstan costs P20.98 here, but only P2.80 in India and P1.46 in Pakistan. Loperamide hydrochloric acid under the brand name Immodium costs P10.70 here, but only P3.27 in India and P1.94 in Pakistan.

As expensive as the medicines, certain drugstores want to make more profit than others.
Yesterday, my pulmunologist gave me another stack of medicine prescriptions. The low price, per tablet, is at Mercury; the high price is Filinvest’s I-Drug: Luetide Salmeleof inhaler–P1,404.25; P1,521.25. Azimonzin antibiotic–P200; P238.10. Doxofylin–P38.75; P43.75. Mediol Methyl–P52.50; P60.30. My yesterday’s visit to a doctor cost P3,200 in medicines.

The PITC imports about 90 cheap medicines that are being sold to the public through Botika ng Bayan outlets. The 1,345 outlets nationwide will be increased to 2,000 by year’s end.
This year, the PITC plans to import from Pakistan and India an additional P500 million worth of medicines, mainly for diabetes, asthma, hypertension, and tuberculosis.

For more information: Rep. Eduardo R. Gullas, RMB-404 House of Representatives Batasang Pambansa, Quezon City, Tel. No. 951-8924.
Email address: dahli_a@yahoo.com

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