Medicine suppliers are discontent with the ministry’s offer to recalculate drug prices for only 200 out of total 4,000 products delivered to hospitals and drugstores, said Viorel Vasile, president of Romanian Medicine Suppliers’ Association.
The Romanian Pharmacists’ College on Friday said suppliers suspended drug deliveries, as the depreciation of the national currency has a negative impact on prices and drugstores are about to finish existent stocks.
Pharmacists said prices have to be updated immediately in accordance with the evolution of the exchange rates, medicine prescriptions should to the common international name and prescription budgets must be implemented as soon as possible.
In addition, talks should be resumed regarding the revision of the entire price-setting method, with respect for European currency, which would ensure financial sustainability for operators in the system.
Following talks with medicine suppliers, the Romanian Health Minister Eugen Nicolaescu voiced his confidence that the country will have a new methodology to compute medicine prices shortly.
“By next week, we will have made an analysis for the entire drug catalogue, which includes over 4,000 products. We can choose between three computing methods: the minimum European price, the average price utilized in three countries that apply the minimum European price or a mixture of the two,” Nicolaescu said Friday.
He said drug deliveries may be resumed at any moment and that suppliers who refuse to comply will face sanctions.
The suppliers, however, said deliveries will not resume until the ministry shows them an official document with the new prices.
“There’s nothing we can do without an official document. It would be against the law to start deliveries tomorrow for a potential rate of 3.63 lei against the euro (the official rate exchange used at customs – e.n.),” Vasile mentioned.
He said suppliers suffered losses of tens of million euros so far due to price freezing.