Doctors warn against generic drugs provision in medicine bill

Doctors threatened yesterday to avoid prescribing medicine if the Cheaper Medicine Bill is passed, saying the measure might endanger patients because it limits prescription to only the generic name of drugs.

“If the bill is implemented in its present form, the responsibility of doctors to protect their patients will be taken away. If we prescribe only the generic name and the pharmacists give our patients the wrong medicine, we’ll be the ones blamed by our patients,” Dr. Bu Castro, past president of the Philippine Medical Association (PMA), said.

Castro told The STAR that House Bill 2844 violates doctors’ right to determine what is best for their patients.

“We’ll be holding this boycott because we want to protect our patients, and not for anything else. The health and welfare of our patients is of paramount importance to us,” Castro added.

Castro complained that when the bill was still being discussed, the PMA was not invited to give its side.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III declined to comment on the doctors’ threat, saying he “might only be adding to the confusion.”

Passed on third and final reading by the House of Representatives last year, the bill seeks to widen ordinary Filipinos’ access to cheap and quality drugs.

The bill also provides that a drug’s patent in the Philippines expires at the same time as that in the source country. This provision intends to enable other drug companies to come up with similar products.

Castro said they believe the provisions in the existing Generics Law are enough to ensure affordable and quality medicine for patients, so there is no need for the new policy under HB 2844.

Under the Generics Law, the generic name of a drug in a prescription note should be more prominent than the brand of medicine recommended. The brand name of a drug should be enclosed in parenthesis.

The provision allows patients to decide if they want to use the branded product or other alternatives.

Not enough

The Cheaper Medicine Bill is unlikely to bring down prices significantly unless pharmaceutical firms spend more for research and development of new drugs than for efforts at extending the patents of existing drugs, international research group Oxfam said yesterday.

Oxfam’s observation is contained in a report titled “Investing for Life: Meeting poor people’s needs for access to medicine through responsible business practices.”

At a press briefing, Helena Vines Fiestas, policy adviser for Oxfam Great Britain, said she doesn’t know exactly how much drug firms spend for lobbying or court cases but the “figures are actually deflated.” She said the figures for R&D “are not really high because they get discounts.”

“So instead of investing for the development of drugs for new diseases, companies now spend more to extend the patent,” said Lilian Mercado Carreon, Oxfam country program manager.

Carreon said the pending Cheaper Medicine Bill will not greatly help the poor gain greater access to drugs.  – With Reinir Padua