Moderators Moderator_03 Posted August 12, 2022 Moderators Share Posted August 12, 2022 Quote 30% price cut will bankrupt small pharmacies - Guild Posted 11/08/2022 The National Union of Pharmacy Owners (Unprofa) expressed its resounding rejection of the promulgation of Executive Decree No. 17 of August 10, 2022, which orders a 30% reduction in the price of 170 medicines. According to the guild which brings together about 450 pharmacies in the country, the decree will not end the shortage of medicines from the Social Security Fund and the Ministry of Health, nor the high price of medicines. However, “it will lead to bankruptcy” for small pharmacies throughout the national territory, thereby leading to more unemployment and benefiting only the large chains.” In a statement, Unprofa said that it was not notified or consulted, or included in the technical table for medicines for the discussion of this issue where "the decisions made affect us directly." The union stressed that pharmacies "are subject to carrying on their shoulders" the discount subsidy for retirees, foreign residents, special pensions, and people with disabilities - and that the deputies have raised it from 10% to 20% - in addition to eliminating the prescription requirement, "so the subsidy we grant reaches many citizens who purchase their medications through retirees." “If we buy medicine at 1.00 and sell it at 1.40, under the current decree, a retiree would be sold at 0.79 having paid 1.00 for it, that is, directly losing 21% plus the operating expenses that having a structure to sell medicines in a pharmacy, at each sale. This is absurd and unsustainable,” he assured. Unprofa – which brings together some 4,500 workers including pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, cashiers, and general assistants, among others – emphasized that each pharmacy has high operating expenses that with this measure it is impossible to face. "We demand that the Government convene a table for the direct actors of the problem” said a letter signed by Orlando Pérez, president of the group. https://www.newsroompanama.com/business/30-price-cut-will-bankrupt-small-pharmacies-guild Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Moderator_03 Posted August 12, 2022 Author Moderators Share Posted August 12, 2022 Quote Cortizo signs decree ordering 30% cut in price of 170 medicines Posted 11/08/2022 An Executive Decree ordering a 30% reduction in the price of 170 medicines, was published in the Official Gazette on Wednesday night. President Laurentino Cortizo signed the document after concluding the Cabinet Council meeting in the afternoon. “I am pleased to announce to the country that I have signed the Executive Decree that reduces the price of 170 medications by 30%, which will take effect on August 15, 2022, to guarantee medicines at cheaper prices for all Panamanians,” Cortizo said in a Twitter message. According to the decree, the medicines that appear in the annex to the document must be sold at 30% less than the sale price registered in each pharmacy as of June 30, 2022. Additionally, special discounts -such as 20% for retirees- will be calculated on the price of the 30% application. The measure will be for six months extendable. The provisions of the decree will not apply to medicines manufactured by the national industry and to those generic medicines whose price is equal to or less than 60% of the reference medicine as of June 30. https://www.newsroompanama.com/health/cortizo-signs-decree-ordering-30-cut-in-price-of-170-medicines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Moderator_03 Posted August 13, 2022 Author Moderators Share Posted August 13, 2022 Quote 450 pharmacy owners prepare to close their doors Posted 12/08/2022 The owners of 450 small and medium-sized pharmacies are already clear about the actions they will take if the Government does not modify Executive Decree 17 of August 10, 2022, which set 30% discounts on the price of 170 medicines, starting Monday, August 15. Orlando Pérez, president of the National Union of Pharmacy Owners (Unprofa), reported that the members agreed that as of Friday, they will not make new orders to drug distributors and, if they do not receive a response from the authorities, from next Monday the 15th the 450 affiliated pharmacies will not open their doors. Pérez stressed that at no time were they consulted about the action taken by the Government regarding the price of medicines and assured that, if that discount is maintained, it will be the end of many small and medium-sized pharmacies. Unprofa gave as an example that if you buy a drug for $1 and sell it for $1.40, with the provisions of the Executive Decree you would have to sell it to a retiree for $0.79, for which you would lose 21% with each sale. Health Minister Luis Francisco Sucre, defended the measure, as, during the discussion at the drug technical table, several of the manufacturers that are part of the Central American and Caribbean Federation of Pharmaceutical Laboratories (Fedefarma) undertook to assume a third of the percentage of the reduction but the offer was not in writing. The new measure arose from the technical table installed by the Government in February, in order to solve the problems related to the shortage of medicines in the Social Security Fund (CSS) and the Ministry of Health (Minsa), and with the high cost of these in private pharmacies. Bankruptcies The Union said that the measure "will lead to bankruptcy" for small private pharmacies and this will cause more unemployment. Unprofa's rejection also stems from the fact that it was not notified, consulted, or included in the technical table for medicines to discuss the issue, but the decisions adopted affect it directly. It stressed that pharmacies are required to carry on their shoulders the discount subsidy for retirees, resident foreigners, professionals with special pensions, and people with disabilities. https://www.newsroompanama.com/health/450-pharmacy-owners-prepare-to-close-their-doors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Moderator_03 Posted August 15, 2022 Author Moderators Share Posted August 15, 2022 Quote Smaller pharmacies set to close as 30% discount arrives Posted 14/08/2022 On the eve of the introduction of an Executive Decree, which set 30% discounts on the price of 170 medicines owners of medium and small pharmacies have yet to reach an agreement with authorities of the Ministry of Health. While the Government insists that the decree enters into force on Monday, August 15, as planned, the National Union of Pharmacy Owners (Unprofa) is requesting its repeal or putting it on "pause". Both parties met on Friday and Saturday, but there was no consensus reports La Prensa. Orlando Pérez, president of Unprofa, said that the Government must look for the true genesis of the high prices of medicines since pharmacies do not have high-profit margins. The negotiations will continue Sunday, according to the Minsa. Orlando Pérez, president of Unprofa, has had a busy agenda, between Friday, August 12, and Saturday, August 13, which included meetings with the National Council of Private Enterprise (Conep), the Authority for Consumer Protection and Defense of Competition (Acodeco) and personnel from the Ministry of Health (Minsa). On Friday, after hours of conversations, they did not reach any agreement on their main request: to repeal the executive decree or to “put it on pause”, so that all the actors – be they pharmaceutical companies, distributors, and pharmacies – seek a solution to the conflict. “We do not earn large percentages of money and they [the Government] must look for the true genesis of the problem. This is solved by the big pharmaceutical companies that produce the medicines together with the big distributors, but we do not have profit margins to cover the discounts imposed by the authorities. This decree punishes us”, said the leader of the small pharmacy owners. On Saturday, Pérez met again with Minsa authorities, in order to find a way out of the problem. If they do not reach agreements, they will close their doors starting, Monday, when the Executive Decree comes into effect. https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/smaller-pharmacies-set-to-close-as-30-discount-arrives Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Moderator_03 Posted August 30, 2022 Author Moderators Share Posted August 30, 2022 Quote Pharmacy owners ask Supreme Court to suspend discount decree Posted 29/08/2022 The National Union of Pharmacy Owners (Unprofa), will ask the Third Chamber of the Supreme Court to suspend the decree that establishes discounts on medicines. It requests the suspension of Executive Decree No. 17 of August 10, which authorizes a list of 170 drugs with a 30% discount from August 15, The association considers the Executive Decree to be illegal because it threatens the jobs of more than 4,500 employees and generates losses by keeping medicines out of sale and waiting for credit notes from the existing inventory, and this leads to shortages so that the population cannot find their medicines. https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/pharmacy-owners-ask-supreme-court-to-suspend-discount-decree Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Moderator_03 Posted September 11, 2022 Author Moderators Share Posted September 11, 2022 Quote Study confirms medicines in Panama cost more Posted 10/09/2022 A study by the firm Indesa has confirmed what we all already sensed or knew: that medicines in Panama are expensive, excessively expensive, although there are factors that contribute to this, such as import costs; the near absence of local manufacturers; the size of the market, and the low consumption of generics, for example. Indesa reveals that, among the medicines, they studied compared to other countries in the region, acquiring medicines in Panama is, on average, 28% more expensive than in those countries. This study, valuable for its information, should be a point of reference to begin, in earnest, a national policy on import costs; incentives to manufacture medicines locally, and direct efforts to offer professionals for the industry. Panama urgently needs to attend to its needs, instead of promoting more imports, which represent a flight of foreign currency. We have to plan our future, stop improvising and living in anxiety. That is part of our responsibility as a society. Leaving it only in the hands of politicians and the government puts us in the situation we are in now – LA PRENSA, Sep. 10. https://www.newsroompanama.com/health/study-confirms-medicines-in-panama-cost-more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brundageba Posted September 11, 2022 Share Posted September 11, 2022 Soo let me get this straight. Our meds here are 28 % higher than the average around us. The govt lowered prices by 30%...so now we are 2 % ahead. What a deal ! Am I missing something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Moderator_03 Posted September 23, 2022 Author Moderators Share Posted September 23, 2022 Quote Panama VP knocks big pharma at UN Assembly Posted 22/09/2022 Vice President José Gabriel Carrizo proposed this Thursday, September 22, to the international community that it consider access to medicines as "a human right and not as expensive and luxury merchandise." Panamanian president Laurentino Cortizo appointed his vice president, as the speaker of the Panamanian government before the General Assembly of the United Nations, which takes place at the headquarters of this organization, in New York. In his speech, Carrizo said that "an accessible medicine is the difference between life and death." He argued that “the pharmaceutical industry, of production, supply and distribution of medicines in the world, is supposedly an ally of health; however, we see with concern that millions of people cannot access medicines.” “The situation has become a mercantile and petty act. The oligopolies obtain disproportionate profits from the medicines they distribute and sell to states and individuals,” said the Panamanian vice president, before the representatives of the Member States of the United Nations. He emphasized that "such a system, which shames humanity, cannot continue." "It is everyone's responsibility, and it has to be examined and addressed in its global implications, that access to medicines be valued as a human right and not as an expensive and luxury commodity," Carrizo proposed. He added that "Panama proposes before this General Assembly, the adoption of a global initiative that resolves the excessive price and the lack of access to medicines for the citizens of the world." He explained that President Cortizo instructed him to form and coordinate the National Commission of Medicines, in order to achieve the supply of medicines for the Panamanian population, at much lower prices than the current ones. https://www.newsroompanama.com/news/panama-vp-knocks-big-pharma-at-un-assembly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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