Fimmg Apulia. The mere accountancy view of pharmaceutical expenditure damages the health of citizens

Fedaisf editorial staff

22 July 2023

Monopolies: "family doctors have already achieved their national spending targets"

Fimmg Bari – 21 July 2023

Bari, 21 July 2023. “Enough with the constant pressure on family doctors to reduce drug prescriptions. In recent years, conventional medicine has steadily reduced pharmaceutical expenditure and has already achieved the objectives established at a national level." – comments like this Donato Monopoli, Secretary Fimmg Puglia, the climate that has been breathing for months now in the offices of general practitioners, victims of continuous pressure from ASL and Districts and asphyxiated by recommendations that improperly enter into the merits of the prescriptions made to patients.

“The further reduction in pharmaceutical expenditure imposed by the Region on family doctors risks resulting in damage to citizens' health. – continues Monopoli – budget constraints cannot be to the detriment of citizens' health. In addition to economic goals, you have to worry about health goals.”

As the Judgment 8254 of 03/02/2011 of the Court of Cassation underlines, " [...] no one is allowed to put the economic logic before the logic of health protection, nor to issue directives which, while respecting the former, put the patient's needs in the background [...] its professionalism and its mission at an accounting level”.

“It is not clear why aiming to restrict the prescribing freedom of doctors, pushing for lower cost drugs and constantly questioning the appropriateness, evaluated only from an economic point of view. This way of proceeding is disrespectful towards the medical profession and also ends up having negative effects on the health of patients.” continues Monopoly.

“The impression is that, given the need to cut down on health care costs to recover 47.5 million euros by the end of the year, family doctors are indicated as responsible for the increase in spending. To reach budget targets would instead serve organizational measures. Precisely in the pharmaceutical field, the direct distribution of drugs in the first cycle of therapy through hospital pharmacies at the time of discharge remains to be applied. A system envisaged by law that would save 50% of pharmaceutical costs for the first cycle of treatment, thanks to the lower cost of direct purchases by the Region. – continues Monopoli – A measure of this type would lead to a clear reduction in spending without putting pressure on doctors or risking the health of citizens”.

After all, when the reduction in spending ends up compressing health needs, there is the risk of triggering a vicious circle: in fact, the surveys show that in the Regions with a recovery plan there is greater recourse to the prescriptions of conventional medicine and access to general medicine. This means that health needs that are not answered in other sectors of the health service are directed towards freely accessible services such as family medicine.

Tighten on medicines in Puglia, the goal is a saving of almost 8 million