on cheaper medicine bill...

much has been said on this topic. blogs, articles, mediamens, reporters, television networks, radio stations, doctors from both sides, congressmens, the president of the lower house itself, the senate, and that cute little mole up in the palace.

and im not blogging about it, just to join the festival they are having, thus creating hits for my page. i am simply just too fed up with the way things are, and blogs are my therapy, so as much as i had already procrastrinated on posting this topic, for fear of being simply just a reactionary, i am now writing this, to de-stress myself (or would you rather have me, de-stress in another way?).

who wouldn't want a cheaper medicine to ease your pain and to heal your body? i myself couldn't afford the medicines prescribed by my cardiologist as a maintenance drugs to manage my heart ailment. in fact, i do not religiously take it as scheduled, even if isn't not rational, yet i only take it when necessary... like when chestpains are already evident, and so quickly i reach out for my pocket to get that saving red tablet, and the other tablets to accompany it... i also had to have my every three weeks injection, and my cardiologist strongly recommend, that i should not fail any of this injections, and yet, sometimes i do fail to surface at the scheduled time... because i would rather spend the money, at something else and not on my medicines... something else, that's more necessary to my mind (only to my mind) than these medicines.

and this isn't right. if only my cardiologist do have a blogger account (what if haha), or would be able to find its way here in this page... i guess he would resign to be my doctor and would rather have me sign a waiver for not being compliant on his prescriptions.

one ad says: "bawal magkasakit" (it is not allowed to get sick), because to be sick is not just a painful experience of the particular part of the body and the body entirely, but also it surely would make your pockets real sick. there was i time i remember myself murmuring: "bakit ba ako nagkasakit ng pang-mayaman?" (why am i sick, with such a disease, meant only for rich people?). i came from a very financially poor family leaving only in small quarters, and my dad who only reached third year in his secondary education is simply a construction worker, and mom, who barely reached even grade four, is simply a hardworking housewife... to provide our daily bread then, is difficult enough... what more, to provide my hospital needs, when ten days before my twelfth birthday, i was rushed to the hospital, having convulsions, chilling fever, and chestpains... ah, and i don't want to remember those days anymore.

so why on earth would i oppose this bill very strongly?

i want to make it clear. i am not into opposing for the move to have cheaper medicines, but i say cheaper medicines that are at par quality with the branded ones. and quality would surely be disregarded, because of one statement of the bill---allowing only generic drugs for prescription. i don't really understand that certain provision, or rather, what i do not understand is the mind of the proponents for including that statement of prohibition. as i somewhat understand my economics, i strongly believe that such statements, would clearly affect the quality of the medicines in the market. quality would be sacrificed in the quest to lower the prices, also to add that even our BFAD (bureau of food and drugs), the agency that regulates the quality control of food and drugs (which inludes medicines) honestly states that in its present state today, it has no capability to ensure quality control of this medicines.

i dont even understand also the need for such provision in the entire bill. generic name is already a part of every prescription, why then, do we have to regulate and say, prescribe ONLY generic drugs? why not leave the choice to the patients? in any prescription, as i can attest myself as a patient, the first line is the brand of the medicine, and the next line below, would be the generic name in parentheses. as i had been discussing with my mom over breakfast, how it works, i told her this example we all need a shirt to protect us from heat or rain or dust, we dont get out there naked, we need clothing. but clothing we can buy cheaply in the market, but there are also quality clothes with brands, like tshirts from bench or hang ten, and they cost more, but admit it or not compared to other garments without brands, i do not generalize all yet most of them are of poor quality. why, they might cost less, because production wise they cost less, and why? because perhaps quality was not the only priority (although it might also be their priority but they have to sacrifice a bit of it). that same thing is for generic and branded medicines. let's put another example, when you are in pain, you need a pain reliever, generic name for most commonly used pain reliever is mefenamic acid, pero andaming mefenamic acid sa botika, now what do you choose? ako alam ko na ang bibilhin ko, and i wont say the brand.

if then we will not allow our doctors to give their best suggestion, how then would we know what is the best among those brands, we still have a choice anyway to choose the generic cheaper ones, as it is also indicated in parentheses in the prescription.

what we must advocate is the improvement of our BFAD, before setting up such prohibition in that bill. what we must also advocate is the audit of this big pharmaceutical companies so as to assess if they are not actually over pricing their branded medicines. we don't cut them off the market, admit it they have the technology to produce medicines that truly deliver relief and healing, and it should never be disregarded.

my brother who is an internal and family medicine practitioner, whispered to me, that there might also be another under the table deal behind this provision in the bill... it seems that one congressman proponent is the son of the owners of a pharma company that imports generic drugs and might also be perhaps planning expansion of actually producing such generic drugs... again, i have nothing against cheaper medicine, but i guess the bill has never answered the basic needs of patients.

we need affordable medicines without sacrificing quality. thus, we need an improved and trustworthy BFAD. we need generic medicines that have undergone rigorous quality control and research. we need a regulating body (perhaps a committee of BFAD?) to audit these pharma giants--cut the profits to the minimum, securing also that they would not have any company loss but to still be able to sell branded medicines at a cheaper rate. but damn oh damn, why in the first place thus people get ill?

no other words could have better said what i wanted to convey than this one here:

"...The very core of illness is in poverty, the inaccesibility to basic health care that we pay our taxes for and the shameless disregard for preventive medicine.The government should take responsibility for that. In choosing the best, most cost-effective medicine for the patient, we doctors know best. If territories are to be drawn, then I have this to say: Doctors, only with help from God, heal. It's wishful thinking to say the same for this government who remains blind to our society's ills." --- trixie..

i want my medicines to be affordable. but never cheap.

cheap would mean--substandard...
and that would endanger me more... cost me more.

now would you still want cheaper medicine,
or rather have affordable ones?

who's going to benefit this certain provision of the bill anyway? is it the patients? the ordinary Juan dela cruz? the Filipino people? or that pharma company owns by the parent of this one solon? or the government, who might have received a favor from this solon's family?

certainly not me the patient
nor my beloved Juan dela Cruz, the Filipino people.

certainly!