MANILA, Philippines—Health Secretary Francisco Duque III Sunday urged the public to bring complaints against drugstores that continue to sell medicine at exorbitant prices to their nearest health center.

“We are setting up complaint desks in all Centers for Health Development offices in the country to take calls and reports regarding outlets that are not complying with the new law,” Duque said.

Executive Order 821, which took effect on Aug. 15, set the maximum retail price for five essential medicines. Drug companies also voluntarily agreed to a 50-percent price cut on about 70 other medicines.

Duque said health centers nationwide would be mobilized to accept complaints against hospitals and pharmacies that continue to sell essential medicines at exorbitant prices.

Medicines now under price control include telmisartan and irbesartan, which are antihypertensive drugs; the anti-thrombotic drug clopidogrel; the anti-diabetic drug gliclazide; the antibiotics piperacillin and tazobactam, ciprofloxacin, metronidazole and co-amoxiclave; anticancer drugs such as bleomycin, carboplatin, cisplatin, cyclophosphamide, etoposide, mercaptopurine, methotrexate sodium and mesna.

Compliance

The initiative is in compliance with the so-called cheaper medicines law or Republic Act No. 9502.

“All drug dispensing outlets, be they DoH hospitals or other government and private entities, should comply with these new policies,” Duque warned.

RA 9502 penalizes violators of the order with fines of P50,000 to P5 million.

Duque said drug outlets, particularly those with automated systems, were required to implement the price reductions starting Aug. 15.

Those with manual systems, Duque said, would get the sanctions and penalties if they continue with noncompliance by Sept. 15.

“We are very optimistic that this development will boost the purchasing power of our financially-strapped fellow Filipinos who want to avail themselves of needed medicines but cannot due to their exorbitant prices,” Duque said.

The health chief said the public could look up the new prices of the selected essential drugs and medicines on posters displayed in drug retail outlets and hospital pharmacies and in newspaper advertisements.

Complete courses

“Now that medicine prices are going down and maintenance medication and antibiotics are becoming more affordable, patients should be able to complete their antibiotic courses and become more compliant with their daily maintenance medicines,” Duque said.

“In doing so, we hope to achieve better health outcomes, less complications and improved quality of life,” he said.

Duque said prescription medicines may only be dispensed with a doctor’s prescription. Such drugs, he added, must only be bought in pharmacies instead of doctors’ clinics in accordance with the Pharmacy Law.

Duque said price differentials as a result of the decreased prices shouldn’t be passed on to retailers but instead should be shouldered by manufacturers.

“It is now up to the drugstores and hospital pharmacies to iron out details on rebates for products bought at higher prices,” Duque said.

Earlier, some hospitals threatened a “hospital holiday” or strike, saying that the early implementation of the cheaper medicines law would mean huge losses for them because they purchased their inventories at the old prices.

Duque said their problem had been solved. “The assurance is there in black and white that the companies concerned will shoulder the cost of the price differentials.”

The cheaper medicines bill came about after health officials and lawmakers noted that medicines in the Philippines were being sold by multinational pharmaceuticals at prices higher than in most other Asian countries.