By James Giannecchini on October 18, 2012
Patients and pharmacists, helplessly witness a strange phenomenon: every quarter, dozens of loanable drugs disappear from the counters of pharmacies. Like new Houdinis, the medicines enclosed in their little box that may have accompanied us for years on a therapeutic journey, disappear. From Mirapexin for Parkinson's, to Folina to fight anemia or al Cymbalta, an antidepressant, seem to have disappeared suddenly. What happened to them? Simple replacement of an antiquated medicine with one more in step with the times? According to some, this is not the point, or at least, it is not only that. There would be a business issue behind it: the export business in the countries of theEuropean Union. Chiara Daina, author of a survey-article on the subject in the monthly “Street magazine” explains it better: “A consequence of the free movement of goods which allows medicines to be transferred from a state where prices are lower to another where they are higher”. Examples? The Cymbalta, already mentioned, is sold in Germany for 87.68 Euros, in our pharmacies for 24.90 Euros. The business is very clear. A huge deal for i wholesalers. Everything in order, according to the law, no particular "magheggio". But even Fofi had already pointed out this little "bug" of the system which, although perfectly legal, creates many inconveniences for patients and gives rise to some perplexities for pharmacists. The notification to Aifa by Fofi it is from the year 2010, but for now no solutions have been found. There is absolutely no lack of imagination in our country, and sites have sprung up to find inventories, or pharmacies that still have drugs now sold only abroad, sites capable of locating pharmacies that still have the drug on their shelves that was thought to be entirely disappeared.
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