Liquidated one of the 5 Italian publications of the Isdb network
"With the correct information provided by 5 independent journals, several billion euros could be saved on drugs, with the same efficacy of the treatment, but in times of spending reviews, it is quicker to close the journals". This was denounced by Maurizio Bonati of the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milan, director of the publication 'Ricerca & Pratica',
together with the other directors of the Italian scientific journals belonging to the Isdb, the International Society of Drug Bulletin founded in 1986 for 'critical' information on medicines. Indeed, one of these publications, 'Dialogue on Medicines', is already falling under the ax of cuts. The company Dialogo sui medici Srl was put into liquidation by Ulss 20 and the hospital of Verona, and on 31 December 2012, after 22 years of activity, it will cease to produce the bi-monthly magazine, the six-monthly annotated Handbook, the distance training course.
"These magazines – explain the directors – are independent of the pharmaceutical industry, they do not have advertising inserts, they cover production costs with the subscription of individual readers or of healthcare companies that subscribe their doctors or associations for their members. The overall annual budget of these magazines is a few hundred thousand euros: a trifle for an information and training tool for family doctors, paediatricians, pharmacists and those who work in the healthcare sector in a region", which due to its independent nature can sometimes take positions 'uncomfortable'.
Here are some examples of the theses supported: "In times of the spending review, if all statins cost the same as simvastatin, 500 million euros would be saved every year. If ACE inhibitors cost the same as ramipril, another 100 million euros would be saved. If sartans cost the same as ACE inhibitors, pharmaceutical expenditure would be reduced by 800 million euros. If intravitreal bevacizumab were the drug of choice and had not been canceled from the list of law 648/96, more than 300 million euros less would be paid".
