Forbidden questions = forbidden answers
When 32 members of Congress joined the President in her European trip, they were collectively branded as “Sluts” whose tickets had been paid for by Pharmaceutical companies. The 32 members of Congress were maligned by a handful of radio commentators who cast doubt on their integrity and insinuated that they were part of an organized attempt to derail the passing of the “Cheap Medicines Act”.
This of course was so absurd and farthest from the truth but the fact is, the more distorted the facts are, the more the ignorant are likely to believe. By the time a Political PR and black propaganda specialist had finished spinning his lies most people were convinced that the proposed bill had been sabotaged.
As it turns out, the people who have been doing most of the demolition job are the very people pushing for the passing of the House version of the cheap medicines bill. First they cried “wolf!” by claiming that there was a 1 billion peso lobby fund to kill the House bill. When mathematical equations proved that false, they decided to blame the Senate for the non-passing of the bill.
When news began to trickle out concerning conflict of interest and questions about safety and testing, they shifted gears by making comparisons between the Roxas version and the House version. Their last caper was to accuse members of the House of prioritizing a European travel rather than the good of the Filipino public.
But if the proposed bill is so great why is there so much mudslinging coming from the people pushing for the bill?
Apparently the whole thing has become more of a political concern connected to the Presidential elections of 2010 instead of a simple health issue. Strategists know that the Cheaper Medicines bill authored by Senator Mar Roxas will be one of his stellar achievements as a legislator once his version of the bill is passed.
This is a serious cause of concern for another presidential aspirant who has yet to find an equally popular and high impact issue or concern. Failing to do so, his “PR” boys are now forcing the spotlight on the House version instead of the Roxas bill.
Unfortunately the demolition job backfired, because the latest aaccusations simply angered members of Congress. After calling them “sluts” some people forgot that they still needed the votes of those they accused of being “Sluts”in order to pass the bill into law. You call them prostitutes then you ask them to go to bed with you for free!
Now there is a stalemate and “The Brat pack” are whining why guys like Representative Garcia of
The proposed bill is an act full of commercial vested interest that has never answered the most important question: WHY ARE MEDICINES MORE EXPENSIVE IN THE PHILIPPINES?
Instead of answering the question, the proponents of the house version are offering us a business plan. They will create the market situation, they will bring in the products and determine the prices, and the law will insure their commercial success!
The proponents of the bill have intentionally side stepped or avoided answering the main question because it would make even more enemies for them than they already have. Some people don’t want to answer the question because the blame would ultimately point at “Doctors”.
If Congress really took the time to first answer the question; why are prices so high?, part of the answer they will hear is; because at least 15 to 20% of a medicines cost goes to individually or collectively informing, training, and promoting each and every medicine to doctors. Since the medicine makers can’t promote their medicines in public or to the public, they are (good or bad) at the mercy of Doctors.
So if you happen to be a law maker as well as a medicine man, the last thing you want to do is to antagonize the thousands of doctors who could collectively blacklist your company or your products. Would anybody ever buy your medicines if all the doctors simply say that it’s no good or ineffective?
The next question now is: Why does the government allow this situation?
To begin with, don’t blame the doctors! Our government chose to pass the responsibility of deciding what medicines should be prescribed and dispensed. Instead of building up an agency with financial backing and police power, the government simply delegated the role to physicians.
In order to perform that task the Doctors need to make time to learn about new medicines. The medicine makers on the other hand need to compete in this vicious circle where doctors don’t have a lot of time. In order to be cost effective and competitive, you have to host the best events in the most exotic or interesting of places.
Obviously the next best solution would be to take the burden away from the Physicians and provide for a strong and effective management of the Drug industry.
Once you have a very powerful Bureau of Food and Drugs like the
The problem with this solution is that those with a commercial vested interest will have to subject their products to strict standards of quality and safety. Such details become a cause for cost and delay. So the best thing to do to ensure profit is to take away the power from the doctor to decide what medicine to prescribe and make sure that the government also remains powerless to control the quality and safety of medicines.
The last question we need to ask the congressional proponents of the Cheap medicines bill is: What is the rush?
Obviously the longer the process takes the more questions are being asked and more doctors are beginning to talk. Actually there are some doctors who claim that the bill won’t really bring down the costs of medicines it will simply kill companies that have put their names and reputation behind their products.
In a way it’s like the battle of the local manufacturers such as cars or electronics versus the gray market importers. Legislation simply killed all competition but never really resulted in cheaper cars or cheaper electronics. Just a lot more profits for people who lobbied for “lihislation” or skewed legislation.
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