Press Release
April 13, 2008

Pia sees breakthrough in Cheaper Meds Bill

Senator Pia S. Cayetano today welcomed the directive of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo over the weekend for the Department of Health (DOH) to withdraw the "generics only" provision from the Cheaper Medicines Bill.

Cayetano, Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography Committee, said Arroyo's order could provide the necessary push to break the impasse between the Senate and House panels over the controversial provision.

"I'm looking forward to the swift passage of this landmark bill with the expected removal of the generics only provision from the version of the House of Representatives," she said in a statement sent from South Africa.

Cayetano is in Cape Town attending the 118th General Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in her official capacity as Vice President of the IPU's Coordinating Committee of Women Parliamentarians.

"I share the sentiment of my colleague, Senator Mar Roxas, that the proviso is a contentious matter that would be difficult to implement without the safeguards being spelled out as an amendment to the Generics Act.

The lady senator has stood against the controversial provision, saying the authority of doctors to determine the best medication available for their patient should be respected, including the option to prescribe both branded and generic drug names.

She also warned intense lobbying at the point-of-sale level as big pharmaceutical firms would forge tie-ups with drug stores to prioritize selling their own generic brands over those produced by small generic drug companies.

"Admittedly, we have lost a few precious weeks because of the deadlock at the bicameral conference committee since the beginning of this year. For each day that the passage of this measure is delayed, quality affordable medical care is denied from our people.

"But this is not to say that the Senate is insensitive or unaware of the issues currently affecting the local generics drug industry, as well as the reported loopholes in the implementation of the Generics Law.

"As Chair of the Committee on Health, I am willing to separately hear the concerns and suggestions of the DOH and other stakeholders with the objective of strengthening the Generics Law.

"But it is imperative that the Cheaper Medicines Bill is passed immediately," she concluded.

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