PinoyPundit

Current affairs in the Philippines and overseas.

Prescription for common sense

Posted on December 18, 2007 - Filed Under Governance

It’s heartening to note that Congress has finally approved the Cheaper Medicines Bill on its third and final reading, according to an ABS-CBN News report that said 205 congressmen voted for the measure. None opposed it and nobody abstained . . . which is rather surprising in the wake of persistent attempts by Cebu solon Pablo Garcia to derail it for reasons that were bereft of both common sense and coherence.

HB 2844 would create the Drug Price Regulation Board that has the power to regulate the retail prices of pharmaceuticals that are specified in the measure . . . covering everything from medicines for the treatment of chronic illnesses and life threatening conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, among others, to birth control pills.

Big losers under this development are foreign drug companies such as Pfizer that had a virtual stranglehold on overpricing through what seemed like perpetual recycling of patents.

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