THE DEPARTMENT of Health has said the introduction of full substitution of generic drugs for proprietary or brand name products prescribed by doctors would provide potential savings of €15 million per year – far less than the estimates put forward by the Opposition.
The Minister for Health, Mary Harney, said the HSE currently estimated that, following the 35 per cent reduction in the price of patent-expired brand leaders under a deal with the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry, there was now a differential of approximately 10 per cent between off-patent proprietary and generic products.
“Based on a total cost of €150 million for proprietary items on the GMS that have generic equivalents, this suggests that approximately €15 million in savings could be made if there were to be full substitution,” she said.
In a policy document issued in February, Fine Gael maintained that switching generic drugs for brand-name drugs could produce savings of €200 million.
In a parliamentary question tabled recently, Fine Gael deputy Jim O’Keeffe asked the Minister whether potential savings of up to €350 million a year could be achieved through the use of branded generic drugs throughout the health service.
Ms Harney said that while the use of a proprietary drug or a generic equivalent was a matter for the prescriber, in consultation with the patient, both the Department of Health and the HSE supported the increased use of generics where this was appropriate.
However, she estimated that on the current basis the potential savings from switching to generics was €15 million.
“Prescription drugs can be classified into four groups: proprietary drugs which have a generic equivalent; proprietary drugs which do not have a generic equivalent; branded generics; and unbranded generics. In 2007 about a quarter of all drugs dispensed to medical card holders were proprietary drugs with generic equivalents, at a total cost of approximately €150 million.
“Since the introduction of revised agreements in 2006 with the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association the price of every proprietary drug with a generic equivalent on the Irish market was reduced by 35 per cent . Price reductions have been applied to approximately 600 products to date,” she said.
“The report submitted to me in December 2008 by the group chaired by Dr Michael Barry recommended, among other things, that GPs should be encouraged and facilitated to prescribe generic products. An implementation group has since been established to identify and oversee the introduction of specific measures that will deliver more cost-effective prescribing by GPs,” Ms Harney said.