Saturday, April 12, 2008 Arroyo orders withdrawal of proposed 'generics only' provision
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday directed the Department of Health (DOH) to remove "generics only" provision from the Cheaper Medicines Bill just to get it passed before Congress adjourns in June.
Arroyo announced her order to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III during the inauguration of the 11,000th Botika ng Barangay under the President's Half-Priced Medicines Program and the agriculture department's Barangay Bagsakan at Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City.
She said it was the DOH, which proposed the "generics only" provision last year, which is now causing the delay of the bill's passage, because it was the "ideal" bill. The controversial provision, which was widely opposed by medical practitioners, requires doctors to write only the generic names of medicine in their prescriptions, instead of the current practice of writing both the generic and brand names.
The President said she reiterated her order to Duque because she does not want Malacañang to look like the villain and the lawmakers to look like the heroes.
"We don't want a masterpiece that will never be played. We want something that may be less than perfect but can be carried out. So, that is our formal proposal because we realize while it will make the bill perfect, it will not make it pass, then let us just have a less than perfect bill," she said.
Duque, in an ambush interview, said the DOH has already written Congress last February withdrawing the "generics only" provision.
He expressed confidence that the removal of the controversial provision would pave the way for the passage of the bill, which is the subject of a deadlock in the bicameral conference committee level.
The health chief said the DOH submitted the "generics only" provision because it was rushed into submitting its position to Congress since the bill was a priority.
He said it was only in the end that health officials recalled the findings of a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey that it commissioned in 2005, which showed that the number of Filipinos buying generics medicine has risen to 54 percent of the population. (JMR/Sunnex)
