John Wright Solle MP wants the National Medicines Directorate to prevent price increases from being passed on to consumers. / Jessica Guzman.
The Legislative Assembly is expected to approve this Tuesday the new Law on Service Fees of the State Medicines Directorate (DNM), which will increase most fees and create new fees for distributors of medicines, cosmetics and other products. be.
The new regulation primarily increases the fees that the agency charges pharmaceutical companies for activities related to the marketing of drugs, cosmetics, hygiene products, chemicals, nutritional supplements, medical devices, clinical trials, etc.
Nuestro Tiempo and FMLN lawmakers believe that the new fees will be passed on to people who buy these products, including medicines, despite the fact that the Medicines Law regulates the prices of medicines.
Nuestro Tiempo’s deputy prime minister, Johnny Wright, criticized the lack of regulatory reform at the national level, saying there was “no discussion to clarify and ensure the impact on the market, and no thorough technical analysis”. He pointed out that the responsibility lies with DNM. drug prices, drugs.
“We hope that the National Drug Administration will be the governing body, ensuring that there is no abuse and that people are safe, and that they are careful about the marketing of medicines,” Wright said.
Anabel Berosso, MP of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), expressed a similar opinion, saying that the DNM “must play a leading role in enforcing and respecting the caps set on the prices of medicines. ” he said.
Lawmakers from both opposition parties are concerned that it will be the final buyers, the people who buy medicines, who will have to assume higher prices due to the new charges imposed by DNM.
“This cost increase will be passed on to someone else, and if this increase is reflected in the cost of medicines, it will be a significant setback for the very laws that were created to regulate and control the cost of high-cost medicines. “Companies have a profit motive, and those costs will definitely be passed on to the users who buy the medicines in our country,” Berosso said.
Wright called for not only price regulation but also consumer access to medicines, noting that “consumers ultimately pay” if costs and prices rise.
Source: Diario Elmundo
