Drug firms finger dodgy doctors
Drug firms finger dodgy doctors
Sari P. Setiogi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Pharmaceutical firms have complained about the favors they are
obliged to do for medical practitioners, saying that such
activities have caused drug prices to soar.
An official from the Indonesian Pharmaceutical Industry
Association (GP Farmasi) alleged that some doctors' associations
have forced his members to organize exhibitions during seminars,
and provide air tickets, hotel charges, and food allowances for
the doctors attending.
"The practice is common and forces the industry to increase
the price of drugs," he said.
A tablet of branded amoxillin antibiotics, for example, could
cost about Rp 3,000 (35 U.S. cents), while the generic ones cost
only about Rp 560.
He illustrated his point by saying that a medical specialist's
association had asked several pharmaceutical companies to set up
promotion stands during a seminar, but they were forced to pay up
to US$40 per square meter for the booths.
"The normal price is about US$8 per square meter," he said,
adding that pharmaceutical companies were often required to rent
a least six square meters.
"If the company refuses, then a deal exists among specialists
that they will not prescribe our products," he said.
"Because of the consequences, our members will never refuse
attendance, but in the end the costs will be added to the
product's price. Consumers have to pay the price," he said.
He also said this is a common occurrence. "Such thing happens
at almost every exhibition. The industry has no choice,
particularly on patented drug which could not be promoted in
other way."
A pharmacist, Mulyadi, said the price of a branded drug could
be five or six times more than its generic equivalent.
The usual reason for the high prices is given as the cost of
raw materials, which are mostly imported from foreign countries
such as Sweden and India.
A spokesman for a pharmaceutical company also complained of
paying doctors' costs:
"Sometimes they even treat it (the seminar or symposium) as a
family vacation, so they bring their family members with them,"
said the man who refused to be named.
The cost of such 'promotions' supposedly adds between 15 and
20 percent to the drug price.
Separately, Dodi Firmanto, spokesman for the Indonesian
Doctors Association (IDI), said such practices could be reported
to IDI's Doctors's Code of Ethics Council (MKEK).
The association was supposed to have the authority to suspend
medical doctors engaged in such practices, but in many cases it
failed.
The country has about 12,000 variants of drugs available,
compared to 5,000 in the U.S. and Europe.