[Ip-health] Philippines: Pfizer ‘bribe’ case brought before US gov’t - EO on cheap medicines takes effect Aug. 15

[Wim De Ceukelaire]

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Pfizer-bribe-case-brought-before-US-govt

Pfizer ‘bribe’ case brought before US gov’t



By Michael Lim Ubac
Philippine Daily Inquirer


Posted date: July 21, 2009



MANILA, Philippines—Sen. Manuel Roxas II Monday brought to the attention
of the US Department of Justice and Department of Commerce the alleged
attempt by Pfizer Philippines to bribe President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo.

In separate letters, Roxas formally asked the US government to
investigate possible violations by the drug company of the US Foreign
Corrupt Practices Act and other laws “in the company’s attempts to
influence the Philippine legislature and the government into watering
down the Cheaper Medicines Law.”

The senator also demanded that the American giant pharmaceutical firm
Pfizer Inc. open the records of its local entity, Pfizer Incorporated
Philippines, for scrutiny by the joint congressional oversight committee
on quality affordable medicines.

Roxas wrote two identical letters to Deputy Chief Mark F. Mendelsohn of
the US justice department and Chief Counsel for International Commerce
John Cobau to seek their assistance on Pfizer’s “unethical lobby
practices” in the Philippines.

The senator noted Pfizer’s numerous attempts to block the legislation
and subsequent implementation of the cheaper medicines law.

“The Filipino people’s fight for access to quality affordable medicines
is now more than a decade… The Philippine government’s efforts to bring
down prices of medicines have been met with fierce resistance by the
pharmaceutical industry,” he said.

“Unfortunately, the same pharmaceutical companies who have strongly
lobbied against the passage of the law to this day continue to employ
tactics meant to delay and impede its implementation,” he said.

Delaying tactics

Roxas cited Pfizer’s move in 2006 to stop the Philippine International
Trading Corp. from importing the anti-hypertension Norvasc from India.

Also, during deliberations of the Philippine Congress on the cheaper
medicines legislation, Roxas said a Pfizer lawyer was ordered to leave
the session hall of the House of Representatives for trying to delay the
proceedings by handing a lawmaker a note to question the existence of a
quorum.

“Just recently, Pfizer allegedly arranged two meetings between the
Philippine executive and pharmaceutical industry players in relation to
a proposed executive order to impose a maximum retail price on 22
essential medicines,” he said.

Roxas said that the industry had opposed the signing of the executive
order.

During the July 13 oversight hearing on the July 8 “secret” meeting with
Ms Arroyo, it was revealed that Pfizer had offered Health Secretary
Francisco Duque III five million discount cards estimated to cost P100
million or more in exchange for not implementing the MRP on essential
medicines.

The law gives Ms Arroyo the power to regulate drug prices when needed to
protect the interest of the consumer.

Instead of signing the order, Ms Arroyo gave the pharmaceutical
companies 10 days to come up with reduced price proposals.

On Saturday, the companies did submit a list.

“To my mind, the actions of Pfizer are motivated by no other reason than
to impede and obstruct the full implementation of Republic Act No.
9502,” Roxas said in the letters.

“The persistence with which Pfizer has been blocking and fighting
Philippine government’s efforts to bring down the prices of medicines
and make essential medicines accessible to Filipinos is extremely
alarming.

“In fact, I believe that their acts are unethical and violate not only
Philippine anticorruption laws, but also the US Foreign Corrupt
Practices Act,” Roxas said.




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EO-on-cheap-medicines-takes-effect-Aug-15

EO on cheap medicines takes effect Aug. 15



By Christian V. Esguerra
Philippine Daily Inquirer


Posted date: July 21, 2009



MANILA, Philippines—The executive order setting a price ceiling on
essential drugs will take effect on Aug. 15, but will cover only at
least six medicines whose manufacturers refused to sell at half their
current prices, according to the health department.

Among these medicines, which drug firms offered at price cuts of only 30
to 35 percent, is the widely popular antihypertensive drug amlodipine,
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III Monday said.

The rest include anti-infective, anti-cholesterol, anticancer and
anti-diabetic drugs, he said.

Duque said at least 14 other medicines would no longer be covered by the
executive order after their producers—at least five companies—
voluntarily cut their prices by a minimum of 50 percent.

In line with the cheaper medicines law passed last year, the Department
of Health (DoH) recommended to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo a
50-percent price cut on 21 essential medicines through a draft order.

Ms Arroyo had given drug firms 10 days or until July 18 to reduce prices
by half so there would no longer be a need for the executive order.

But some of the firms apparently tried to circumvent the Palace order,
primarily by offering price cuts for drugs not belonging to the 21
essential drugs.

One company was found to have offered to cut the price of a medicine no
longer being sold in the local market, said Dr. Robert So, program
director of the DoH pharmaceutical management unit.

So said his office was verifying a similar case involving another drug.

Burden on patients

At a media briefing in Malacañang, Duque said drug firms had been
selling their products at high prices for a long time.

The commonly used drugs have been sold for as much as 200 percent higher
than in other Asian countries such as India and Thailand.

“It’s adding to the burden of our patients who, otherwise, could have
accessed these very good, quality, branded medicines if it were not for
the price barrier,” Duque said.

He said drug companies who failed to heed the 50-percent price cut order
reasoned that doing so would eat up so much of their profit margins.

“Even if they are going to say that it will threaten the viability of
their operation, I, for one, will not readily accept that,” he said.

“I will have to look at their financial statement. They would have to
disclose how much they actually earn, how much they spend for
operations, for importation, taxes paid, transfer cost, marketing cost,
advertising cost,” Duque said.

P10 billion in foregone sales

The industry’s offer to voluntarily cut prices could reduce sales by as
much as P7 billion to P10 billion a year, making it hard for smaller
drug firms that produce and market three or four products to survive,
according to the Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Association of the
Philippines (PHAP).

The industry opposed moves to introduce price controls, looking at the
maximum retail price mechanism under the law as a form of regulation,
said PHAP head Reiner Gloor.

Wrong signal

Gloor said some drugs could continue to be inaccessible to the poor
unless the healthcare system was reformed.

“That sends a wrong signal for the country, which has followed free
market policy,” Gloor told Reuters in an interview.

“We’ve given the President an option in making a decision on whether
there should be price control or not,” he added.

To beat the July 18 deadline, 13 drug firms submitted proposals for
voluntary price cuts, according to So. All but two were members of PHAP.

Duque said the DoH rejected offers for price cuts for drugs outside of
the list of 21 essential medicines. He said such offers were an
“all-or-nothing proposition” anyway.

Review every 3 months

The health secretary said the agency would review every three months the
prices of medicines being sold in the country, to check if companies
were honoring their commitment to cut prices by at least half.

“We will hold them to keep prices at that level unless they show us
proof that certain conditions have arisen,” he said, citing factors like
changes in foreign exchange rate.

“Unless they are able to clearly show this, then we will not agree to
any price increases within a six-month period,” Duque said.

In a statement, PHAP said that its letter of undertaking contained not
only the 21 molecules and therapeutic areas specified in the DooH list,
but also some additional molecules required for other essential
medicines.

“PHAP believes that the voluntary price action will provide greater
access to quality medicines for Filipinos, especially the poor, as the
offer contains a more comprehensive list of medicines used by majority
of the population for greater impact particularly on lower-income
Filipino patients,” the group said.

“PHAP proposes that a longer-term solution be implemented that considers
comprehensive healthcare reform, including adequate healthcare financing
through PhilHealth, infrastructure building and training of healthcare
providers in the rural areas,” it added. With reports from Abigail L. Ho
and Reuters



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