Senator JV Ejercito on Thursday filed a resolution directing an appropriate Senate panel to conduct an inquiry on the alleged collusion in prescribing medicines between doctors and pharmaceutical companies.
Ejercito, who co-chairs the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, earlier slammed the alleged modus of pharmaceutical firms giving some physicians with luxurious gifts to prescribe their manufactured medicines despite the patients may not even need them to cure their illnesses.
The senator stressed such an activity could be a “violation of ethical standards of medical practices.”
In filing Senate Resolution No. 1011, Ejercito stressed the Generics Act of 1988 or the Cheaper Medicine Act aims to ensure the protection of the public through the promotion of accessible and affordable quality drugs.
He cited the written article of Dr. Sylvia Claudio, former University of the Philippines Diliman's doctor of medicine professor.
“According to Dr. Claudio, pharmaceutical companies will shower doctors with gifts from as little as ballpoint pens and t-shirts; blowouts at expensive restaurants; to sponsoring concerts and trips abroad just to market their products,” Ejercito wrote in his resolution.
The senator noted that the Republic Act No. 11223 or the “Universal Healthcare Act” seeks to protect patients against financial risk and reduce the cost of their out-of-pocket health expenses.
Ejercito revealed that he was approached by some pharmaceutical companies and some whistleblowers that doctors were allegedly in cahoots with Bell-Kenz Pharma Inc. in meds prescription.
“I heard this practice concerning the Bell-Kenz Pharma Inc., wherein the shareholders are doctors, and they import quality drugs for hypertension, diabetes, and others,” he said in a press briefing on Wednesday.
“The only problem is that there seems to be a conflict of interest and a breach of ethical standards because the complaint of whistleblowers is it involves doctors marketing or prescribing the drugs or medicines imported by their own company,” he added.
Ejercito said the modus can be considered a “networking or pyramiding.”
“We have to investigate why this has been going on. The company existed a long time ago. It boosted during the pandemic,” he added.
He lamented that if doctors are “indeed prescribing” medicines or supplements that patients don’t really need, “then it adds out-of-pocket expenses.”
“I think they are more active in the provinces than in Metro Manila. So we really have to look into this. Again, we do not want unnecessary extra expenses for ordinary Filipinos, especially those in the provinces,” Ejercito stressed.
