The reason is the 45 million euros that the Marrazzo council expects to save on citizens' skin, with a resolution that indicates to general practitioners and paediatricians which drugs to prescribe to their patients.
A dry "no" to the Health of Lazio. It is that of Forza Italia and Stefano De Lillo, who will present his resignation today as vice president of the Health Commission. And the reason is the 45 million euros that the Marrazzo council expects to save on citizens' skin, with a resolution that indicates to general practitioners and paediatricians which drugs to prescribe to their patients. The provision, voted on last December 28, establishes, for 24 pharmacological categories, the molecule that family doctors should administer, even if there are better remedies on the market. This is because the criterion of "prescriptive" appropriateness with regard to numerous drugs, including some against hypertension and cholesterol, others for heart attack prevention and various antibiotics and anti-inflammatories, will not be scientific evidence, therefore the most advanced drug, but economic convenience. The molecules indicated by the Region, in fact, have expired patents and, therefore, cost less. Anyone who does not use this criterion will have to answer to the competent district commission. A provision which, for De Lillo, in the face of a small saving, could "increase the risk of mortality" effectively discriminating against the citizens of Lazio from those of other regions where these constraints do not exist. As confirmed by Cristina Patrizi, regional organizational secretary of the Italian doctors union, «the appropriateness of the prescriptions does not depend on the cost of the drugs, but on their presence on the Handbook drawn up by AIFA, the Istituto Superiore di Sanità and the ministries of Economy and Health. Instead, the region asks us to work according to the expiry of the patents». Truly too much, for Stefano de Lillo, who will leave the vice-presidency of the Health Commission today, after having underlined "the absence of political concertation on all health issues in Lazio". And Francesco Giro, regional coordinator of FI, confirmed: "This is a political initiative that involves the entire party." NATALIA ALBENSI? Free of 01/15/2008 ed. Rome p. 47
