Monday 1st October 2012, 13:50 – Chronicle –
An urgent intervention for the pharmaceutical industry put in difficulty by the law on the obligation to prescribe only the active ingredient, was requested today by the councilor for production activities Gianfranco Simoncini who sent a letter to the minister Corrado Passera in which they ask, " while safeguarding the expenditure ceiling, measures to protect citizens' freedom of choice as well as the survival and development of the Italian pharmaceutical company, which is a quality industry and which must continue to represent a cornerstone of the development of our country".
This was reported today by the commissioner speaking at the meeting organized by the pharmaceutical company Menarini which was attended by Tuscan institutions and parliamentarians.
In particular, the councilor expressed "great concern for the production situation in Tuscany as a result of the news on the collapse of sales of pharmaceutical products with original brands, following the entry into force of law 135/2012 which, with art. 15 paragraph 11 bis obliges the doctor to make prescriptions indicating only the active ingredient".
The councilor – who also affected the president Rossi and the councilor for health Marroni on this issue – observed that this provision not only does not lead to savings for public budgets, but limits the possibility of choice for citizens and furthermore, altering the market risks causing a very heavy blow to the Italian pharmaceutical industry, putting hundreds and hundreds of jobs at risk.
Tuscany is one of the national hubs in pharmaceutical production (in third place after Lombardy and Lazio), has 20 companies, from multinationals to small and very small, and more than 12,000 employees (6,800 in pharmaceuticals, plus 4,418 in related industries and the 800 who work in research and development). "It is a heritage of skills, research and employment - said Simoncini - that the Region intends to safeguard, fighting any threat of decentralization of production and deindustrialization of the sector".
