Guido Filippi | GENOA | September 15, 2014 | THE XIX CENTURY
Genoa – A four-page report to the Court of Auditors with the names of eight family doctors, the disputes and the request for compensation: at least 40 thousand euros, but the message is very clear: doctors who prescribe too many packs of drugs, or medicines that are not appropriate for a therapy, must put their wallets in their hands for their mistakes. In most cases, these are medicines forhypertension, ulcers and cholesterol which, by the way, are quite expensive.
A hard line that has been in force for over a year at ASL 3, but also in the other Ligurian ASLs, to save on pharmaceutical costs and avoid waste. Before the summer came yet another crackdown: the mutualists, who had been presented with a bill with a salary deduction, rebelled and initiated the formal notice (signed by the lawyer Alessandro Lanata who assists the Medical Association of Genoa) and the reaction of the ASL leaders Genoese was just as hard.
The practice was sent to the prosecutor's office Court of Auditors which has opened an investigation for tax damage and, within a few months, will present the sting that could even be higher than the amount requested for over-prescriptions, if family doctors are also accused of damage to their image.
In the last year there have been at least eighty mutualists who have gotten into trouble for the wrong recipes, and when they were summoned to the offices of the ASL 3, in via Bertani, they had to answer for the disputes, but the procedure requires a second step : a commission, which also includes a representative of family doctors, evaluates the practice and decides on any sanctions.
The most sensational case is that of a doctor who has a practice in the center and more than a thousand patients: he has been convicted to compensate 18 thousand euros for irregularities in the prescription of medicines. Two others were presented with a bill of 3,000 euros, while the last five requests ranged between 2,000 and 500 euros.
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Drugs, "hyper-consumption" in Ferrara - INTERVIEWS
Author: Drafting | 16 Sep 2014 17:21 | TELESTENSE.IT
The people of Ferrara are first in Emilia-Romagna for the consumption of medicines. In the Este province, drug doses have increased by 38% in twelve years. And the risk is that they become harmful. For this reason, the two health agencies, A.Usl and S.Anna, are organizing an awareness campaign aimed at both citizens and doctors and specialists who prescribe medicines.
The drug is a precious asset but also a possible cause of adverse or harmful events. This is where the new inter-company campaign of A.Usl and S.Anna starts to try to raise awareness among the Ferrara inhabitants of the use and consumption of medicines which, as far as the Este province is concerned, registers worrying numbers: according to regional data, every Ferrarese, every year, takes more 9% doses of drugs than the Emilia-Romagna average. A percentage that rises to 13% compared to provinces such as Parma and Reggio Emilia. Not only. From 2002 to 2014, therefore in just twelve years, the number of doses of medicines that every Ferrara resident takes increased by 38%.
After the discovery of a patient from Ferrara who took 25 medicines a day, the territorial health authority has identified, in the Este province, the presence of 200 people who take more than 15 medicines a day. Situations that are recorded above all in the over 65s, more prone to having chronic pathologies: high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiological and inflammatory diseases. The concomitance of several pathologies leads to taking more drugs and, consequently, to an increase in the risk of toxicity. Sometimes doctors and specialists who have to prescribe a therapy do not know the patient's entire medical 'history'. The advice is simple: when you go to the general practitioner you need to inform him of the therapies prescribed by the specialist, and when you go to the specialist, bring with you the list of medicines you are taking at that moment.
