The white coats of the autonomous national union of Italian doctors (Snami) are "very concerned" about the involvement of the Italian medicines agency in the corruption investigation which led to house arrest and custody of 8 people, including representatives of pharmaceutical companies and Agency officials. "As family doctors we are very concerned even if not surprised - has explained Mauro Martini, (photo) president of Snami, on the sidelines of the Congress underway in Cervia – because the Medicines Agency was created to guarantee the quality of the medicines that we prescribe and is a bulwark for the protection of health. If it doesn't guarantee all this, it's useless. It only risks being a source of bureaucracy: of rules and impositions seen, among other things, very badly by the medical profession". Martini, in particular, underlines the need to offer transparency in the field of generic medicines, an "important tool for family doctors. The Turin investigation started, in fact, from investigations into authorizations for the trade of equivalent products and then extended to other medicines. The generic drug, ”represents Martini concluded. one more opportunity for the NHS and it is a therapeutic tool that we family doctors will use more and more. But it must be used appropriately, focusing only on saving money for these products can also lead to distortions". From Doctornews 05-23-08
