News

Breakthrough In Bicam On Affordable Medicines Bill: 90% Done
Consensus On Price Regulation Arrived At By House And Senate
February 20, 2008

Senator Mar Roxas, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Trade, today announced the bicameral conference committee on the Quality Affordable Medicines Bill has had a breakthrough in discussions, resulting in roughly 90% of the bill already agreed on.

After the four-hour bicam committee meeting on Tuesday night, and after four “pre-bicam” meetings prior to this, representatives of both the House and Senate have also arrived at a consensus on drug price regulation.

“Halos nobenta porsyento ay magkasundo o magkaparehas, o malapit na malapit nang magkasundo kaya ito’y isinantabi na at okey na, subject to style na lang,” he said, referring to provisions that seek to strengthen competition in the pharmaceutical industry, including amendments to the Intellectual Property Code to allow parallel importation, strengthening the Bureau of Food and Drug, amending the Pharmacy Law, among other provisions.

“Doon naman sa drug price regulation, tinatanggap namin na dapat magkaroon ng regulasyon sa mga pagkakataon na ang market system ay hindi gumagana nang maayos,” he said, noting that the technical staff of the senators and congressmen are now drafting the wording of this provision.

On how the provisions on drug price regulation of the Senate and House versions were married, Roxas explained: “Ang kapangyarihan na napakaloob at nalista doon sa House version, ibibigay sa Secretary of Health, para nasa kanya na ang awtoridad na mag-regulate lalong-lalo na kapag malaki ang agwat sa presyo ng mga gamot dito sa atin kumpara doon sa ibang bansa.”

Roxas said the only remaining provision for the bicameral committee to thresh out was on amendments to the Generics Law that would only allow generic names of drugs—and not any brand name—to be written on the prescription.

He noted while the House members wanted a “generics-only” provision that would prohibit doctors from writing brand names in prescriptions, Senators fear this may merely shift the selection of brands from the doctor to the rugstore.

“Naghahanap talaga kami ng mekanismo para maitulay ang dalawang posisyon. Ang pinakamahalaga rito ay magkakaroon ng malayang pagpili ng gamot ang mga pasyente,” Roxas said.