New legislation should strengthen existing legislation and not create a false conflict between the rights of doctors and the interests of patients. This is the position of Health Alliance for Democracy (HEAD), the 3,000-strong national organization of doctors and allied health professionals on the provision of generics-only-prescribing imposed by the Cheaper Medicine Bill and the aborted threat of a “hospital holiday” by the Philippine Medical Association in reaction to this.
“Making medicine affordable and accessible should not be contingent on the curtailment of the rights of physicians to prescribe what they deem to be best for their patients.” According to Dr. Gene Alzona Nisperos, HEAD secretary-general. “No law should abridge this right.”
“The draconian measure being imposed by congress is counterproductive at this juncture and distracts from the real issues that need to be addressed to make medicine cheaper in this country: dismantling existing monopolies and enforcing regulation.”
HEAD believes that the strong reaction by doctors is understandable in the light of what is clearly an attempt not just to subvert the prescribing rights of physicians but also to undermine the doctor-patient relationship that is the foundation of any treatment regimen.
Dr. Nisperos contends that if Congress is sincere in its efforts to make meaningful legislation that will make medicine affordable, they should focus on the roots of the problem, which will also explain why existing laws, like the Generics Law, has largely been irrelevant.
“For instance, while there is no question regarding the strong influence exerted by big pharmaceutical companies on the prescribing habits of physicians, gov’t has done nothing to wean doctors from this kind of relationship,” Dr. Nisperos said. “In terms of information on new or recently developed drugs, for example, gov’t has offered no viable alternative sources, forcing physicians to often rely on the product information given by pharmaceutical companies.”
HEAD also slammed Secretary of Health Francisco Duque III for threatening to sanction doctors who will join protest actions.
“Secretary Duque should first explain why the health department has done very little to avert this situation (of very expensive drugs) and why he has not given enough attention to the implementation of the National Drug Policy,” added Dr. Nisperos. The committee that implements this policy is directly under the Office of the Health Secretary.
At the same time, HEAD also cautioned doctors and the PMA from becoming unwitting pawns in the proxy war being conducted by big pharmaceuticals against generic drugs.
“Linking generic drugs with the proliferation of substandard drugs is a rehashed argument perpetuated by big pharmaceuticals to discredit generics and the policy of rational drug use. It is the same argument that these drug companies raised when they tried to block the passage and implementation of the Generics Act two decades ago,” according to Dr. Nisperos.
The proliferation of substandard and ineffective drugs is entirely within the purview of the Bureau of Food and Drug (BFAD) and the DOH, gov’t agencies tasked to monitor this. Yet both the BFAD and DOH have failed miserably in monitoring and regulating the drug industry.
HEAD is renewing calls for a stronger unity between doctors and patients, between prescribers and consumers, to ensure that the new law being crafted by Congress will not wind up being another token measure. “Doctors should join hands with their patients because we have a common interest: health for all. Together, we can be more vigilant against the infirmities of the new law and with the accountability of those who should be implementing the law.” ###
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