Health Ministry Wins Battle With ARPIM: Medication Prices Stay At April Level

Cosmina Capalău

The Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the Ministry of Health in the lawsuit filed by the Romanian Association of International Medicines Manufacturers (ARPIM) to suspend Order of the Minister of Health no. 75/2009 endorsing the norms on the calculation of the price of medicines for human use.

At the end of March, ARPIM asked the Court to suspend the Order reducing the price of medicines arguing that the provisions of the Order were in violation of the law on several counts. Last week, the Court of Appeal ruled that ARPIM"s case was groundless and sustained Order of the Minister of Health no. 75/2009 and its effects, including the prices calculated thereby.

Order of the Minister of Health no. 75/2009 came into effect as of 1 April 2009, endorsing the norms on the calculation of the price of medicines for human use. Consequently, the retail price of medicines decreased by 10% on the average. The price of Romanian-made medicines increased by 1 RON on the average, which did not significantly impact the patients" budget.

"The change in the calculation formula for the price of medicines at the beginning of the year was a much expected and absolutely necessary measure for the entire pharmaceutical market in Romania. The former calculation formula, defined in 2005, was no longer in line with current realities. It contained outdated price ranges, discrepancies between Romanian-made medicines and imported medicines etc," said Claudiu Opran, Chief Operating Officer Retail, A&D Pharma, which controls the pharmacy chain Sensiblu.

He further told BURSA that "the devaluation of the leu and the belated update of the price lists have pushed the pharmaceutical market into an economic situation that can go no further. The decisions made in 2009 by the Health Ministry on the price of medicines have led to a stable and predictable pricing system. This can only be beneficial for both the market and the patients, as the decrease in the price of imported medicines has improved access to needed medication," the A&D Pharma representative concluded.