Would you buy medication based on price or safety?

[midinite]

Here is the dilemma.

Apparently i was talking to someone and it was mentioned that there is a category of drugs that are called biosimilars. Loosely translated they are "copies" of biopharmaceuticals. Now the problem lies in the generics thing where there are generics of low-molecular weight drugs (like paracetamol etc) which are relatively easy to copy. Now biopharmaceuticals which are used to medicate diabetics, cancer patients, those undergoing dialysis, etc use human DNA (if i got that right) and as such the biosimilars that copy these and come from cheap sources like China, India, etc and flood our market (di kasi bawal dito as opposed to the US and Europe) may come tainted with HIV, hepa and just be plain ineffective. Kasi complex ang process deriving from DNA and also un-screened ang donors kaya tainted. Now the price is really so much cheaper than the orig kaya they sell well in the third world even if they are tainted and may have hidden threats (like HIV).

But our FDA categorizes these biosimilars as generics.

Question is would you get a cheaper product if it meant that it was possible it was tainted or would you buy the orig? What are your thoughts?

And what is your thinking of the big Pharma companies pushing what could be tainted drugs? One of the biggest local companies is actually distributing biosimilars locally.

Unfortunately patients dont realise the hidden threat. They are not informed and I suppose a big company would not like that much info revealed?

[smooth]

i feel that i have to reply to this. basically, not all drugs with the same generic name are exactly the same. first, iba iba ang process na ginamit to come up with the same drug. second, even with the same process, iba ibang standards ang ginamit to come up with the drug (may mga ISO-something certified ang certain drug companies). and lastly, even with the same procedure, iba-iba pa din ang incipients and/or vehicles na ginamit for the same generic drug. which is why you will notice, even from a personal standpoint, na may mga certain brands na "hiyang" ka even with the same generic drug. for example lang is paracetamol -- you'll notice na mas hiyang ka sa isang brand ng paracetamol compared to other brands.

i hope hindi pa ko OT pero to stretch the argument further, i would like to cite an example. in one particular hospital, napansin ng mga duktor na hindi gumagaling ang certain group of patients on a particular drug. on closer investigation, they found out that these patients were sourcing a particular antibiotic from certain drugstores from a certain locality. the antibiotic was available from the hospital (at about P1,100+ per vial) pero the patients' relatives were getting it from outside the hospital at about P650+ per vial. nagduda ang mga duktor so when they evaluated the antibiotic sourced outside, they found out that it was just talcum powder. kaya pala hindi gumagaling ang mga pasyente nila. lesson learned: by sourcing the antibiotic outside, nakatipid ba sila (from P1,100 to P650)? or lalong napamahal?

[metatron]

EDITORIAL
Health or wealth?
Inquirer
Last updated 05:41am (Mla time) 02/25/2007

"That may not be easy to swallow for a public that is becoming increasingly aware of how it is made to pay much, much more for the same medicines than their Asian neighbors. For instance, the painkiller Ponstan (500 mg) is sold here at P21, but the same tablet costs only P2.61 in India and P1.38 in Pakistan. The anti-asthma drug Ventolin goes for P315 a puff here, while it costs only P123 in India and P62 in Pakistan. The anti-hypertension drug Norvasc (5 mg) is priced here at P45, but it costs only P5 in India. The Philippine International Trading Corp. has a long list comparing prices, here and abroad, of widely used medicines."
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just adds a new dimension to the quality vs price debate.

[XTO]

when it comes to light to moderate illnesses i go for the cheapest
generic brand. a life threatening situation might be a different thing esp
for the beloved family members. i might still request the attending doc's
approval if i may use the low cost generic type. Ask you physician to
write prescriptions for generic drugs when possible. It would really helps.

[Zeus]

I'll buy the distinguish brand, for safety

[CVT]

EDITORIAL
Health or wealth?
Inquirer
Last updated 05:41am (Mla time) 02/25/2007

"That may not be easy to swallow for a public that is becoming increasingly aware of how it is made to pay much, much more for the same medicines than their Asian neighbors. For instance, the painkiller Ponstan (500 mg) is sold here at P21, but the same tablet costs only P2.61 in India and P1.38 in Pakistan. The anti-asthma drug Ventolin goes for P315 a puff here, while it costs only P123 in India and P62 in Pakistan. The anti-hypertension drug Norvasc (5 mg) is priced here at P45, but it costs only P5 in India. The Philippine International Trading Corp. has a long list comparing prices, here and abroad, of widely used medicines."
---

just adds a new dimension to the quality vs price debate.

Assuming they're equals,- what's our beloved government doing about this?

2101:banana2:

[metatron]

Assuming they're equals,- what's our beloved government doing about this?

2101:banana2:

Health or wealth?
Inquirer
Last updated 05:41am (Mla time) 02/25/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- That was no lobby, just “assertive advocacy.” And it is not about money, but the Filipino people’s health and safety. That is how the Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association of the Philippines (PHAP) explained the efforts of its members, which include major multinational drug companies operating in the Philippines, to block the passage of a bill that basically seeks to bring down the prices of medicines through parallel importation.

Four PHAP representatives attending the special session at the House of Representatives Wednesday were assertive all right, and the congressmen interpreted their intervention as nothing less than “brazen lobbying.” The congressmen were debating the proposed Cheaper Medicine Act of 2007, when a lawyer of one multinational firm slipped a note to Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin asking him to question the quorum—a move that would have terminated the deliberations on the bill. Locsin instead told his colleagues about the note and they moved to expel the PHAP representatives from the session hall. He said the drug lobby group had jumped to the “catastrophic conclusion” that his sympathies were with them.

The spokesman of PHAP later said it was incorrect to say that the group was lobbying against the bill. PHAP was only engaging in “assertive advocacy,” he said. “Public health is primary here, not the loss of profit.”

That may not be easy to swallow for a public that is becoming increasingly aware of how it is made to pay much, much more for the same medicines than their Asian neighbors. For instance, the painkiller Ponstan (500 mg) is sold here at P21, but the same tablet costs only P2.61 in India and P1.38 in Pakistan. The anti-asthma drug Ventolin goes for P315 a puff here, while it costs only P123 in India and P62 in Pakistan. The anti-hypertension drug Norvasc (5 mg) is priced here at P45, but it costs only P5 in India. The Philippine International Trading Corp. has a long list comparing prices, here and abroad, of widely used medicines.

How did this happen? There are two main reasons, according to Inquirer columnist Michael Tan. First, India refused to join the international patent system, saying it was unfair to developing nations. This allowed Indian companies to make the same medicines, using processes different from those of the patent holder. Then it helped develop a national drug industry which now competes with the multinationals, driving prices down. Both of these didn’t happen in the Philippines.

The multinationals offer a third reason: they have to recover the huge investments they made for research and development of their products.

Of course, companies are not established for charity. But if they have to recover their R&D costs and turn in some profits, why should they squeeze them out from a poor country like the Philippines?

That is the inevitable conclusion anyone would reach, given the fact that medicine prices here are among the highest in Asia. It is a practice that turns on its head the idea of socialized pricing that is widely accepted in the field of medicine. And worse, it deprives the poor of needed medication by putting prices out of their reach.

PHAP says it has no quarrel with the bill’s primary purpose of making cheaper medicines available in the local market; it just wants to ensure that such medicines are “of good quality . . . effective and, most of all, safe.” Is it saying that if the government buys branded medicines manufactured by the subsidiaries of multinationals abroad, say, in India (which is part of the parallel importation program), that is no guarantee that such medicines are good, effective and safe?

PHAP should go beyond making pious declarations of concern for the people’s health. Such claims are difficult to believe unless its members bring prices down to levels that are comparable with those prevailing in other countries of Asia. Such claims are an insult to the intelligence when its members effectively deny the poor access to life-sustaining drugs by pricing them beyond their reach and by trying to block the efforts of the government and Congress to make the medicines affordable.
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posted the entire article for clarification. medyo anti-government yung tono ng earlier post ko since it can easily be taken out of context. SOMETIMES gumagawa din pala sila ng matino.

[roqs_hdec]

ang mga mahihirap eh natural lng na yong mura ang bilhing gamot basta sinabi ng doctor na pwedeng gamitin, ang problema eh yong mga naron sa dept of health natin. dpat tinitingnan din nila kung tama ba ang presyuhan ng gamot satin para naman hindi sobrang mahal ng gamot sa ating bansa.. at wawa naman yong mahihirap, mahirap na nga pabilin mopa ng grabeng mahal ng gamot

[midinite]

in one particular hospital, napansin ng mga duktor na hindi gumagaling ang certain group of patients on a particular drug. on closer investigation, they found out that these patients were sourcing a particular antibiotic from certain drugstores from a certain locality. the antibiotic was available from the hospital (at about P1,100+ per vial) pero the patients' relatives were getting it from outside the hospital at about P650+ per vial. nagduda ang mga duktor so when they evaluated the antibiotic sourced outside, they found out that it was just talcum powder. kaya pala hindi gumagaling ang mga pasyente nila. lesson learned: by sourcing the antibiotic outside, nakatipid ba sila (from P1,100 to P650)? or lalong napamahal?

was action taken against the offending store? or product?