The expenditure for medicines with expired patents by the National Health Service in 2012 reached almost half of the total, 46%, while the off-patent medicines included in the Aifa reference lists amounted to over 66% of the total number of packs dispensed by the NHS. The figure was disclosed in the pamphlet on approved pharmaceutical expenditure prepared by Federfarma, which also states that generics covered the 24% of the packs and over the 13% of the expenditure. Pharmaceutical expenditure under special agreements which overall, Federfarma points out, decreased in 2012 for the sixth consecutive year, this time by 9.1% compared to 2011. According to the Federation, this result was achieved "above all thanks to the commitment of pharmacies which have made a significant contribution to spreading a culture of equivalent drugs" but the decline in expenditure is due "to the continuous reduction in drug prices, the increase in deductions paid by pharmacies and the diffusion of the direct distribution of medicines by the local health authorities and entails a situation of severe economic suffering for pharmacies". The contribution of pharmacies to the containment of agreed expenditure for drugs, overall, is around 800 million euros, according to what the brochure reports. «It is becoming increasingly indispensable and urgent» comments Federfarma in a note accompanying the report, «to change the remuneration system of pharmacies, in line with the provisions of some laws that have not been implemented so far. These regulations provide for the transition from the current remuneration system, based on a percentage share on the price of the drug, to a system consisting of a fixed amount for each pack and a reduced percentage share on the price. This system, already successfully tested in other countries, would make it convenient for the NHS to distribute even the most expensive medicines in pharmacies, which are now distributed directly by hospitals and local health authorities".
April 24, 2013 – Pharmacist33
Related news: http://www.federaisf.org/Start/HDefault.aspx?Newsid=7784
