THE PHARMACEUTICAL industry has expressed "disappointment and frustration" that the Government has not managed to secure any savings on the provisions of drugs from pharmacists and wholesalers similar to the multimillion-euro deal it reached with research-based manufacturing companies in 2006.
The Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (Ipha), which represents international research-based pharmaceutical companies, said that it signed a four-year deal with the HSE which would deliver savings of €300 million on the State's expenditure on drugs and medicines.
It said that these concessions were onerous for the industry but were offered on the basis that the deal would provide a stable framework for the following four years.
Ipha also said that the deal was reached after the Government had made clear that "it was the first in a series of negotiations agreed by the Cabinet committee on health to examine all aspects of the drug delivery system, from the manufacturer to the patient".
In its submission to the recent body, which set a new fee schedule for GPs operating the medical card scheme for patients aged over 70, Ipha said that it was a matter of disappointment to its members that State negotiations with the other elements of the supply chain - wholesalers and pharmacists - "have utterly failed to produce a single euro of savings".
It said that wholesalers and pharmacists enjoyed "some of the highest margins in Europe".
"The industry has honoured its commitments under the agreement and fully expects no less of its partners on the State side. Any suggestion or expectation that there are further savings to be gleaned from Ipha members is misinformed and any such expectations could not possibly, under any circumstances, be met," the submission states.
Ipha told the review body that GPs should be "fairly remunerated" for their services. However, it said that this remuneration should not be linked in any way to GPs' prescribing practices, "which should always be based exclusively on what is in the best interest of the patient, with no perception that this decision is in any way influenced by the existence of financial incentives for particular prescribing practices in respect of particular patients".
A year ago the HSE announced plans to save about €100 million by introducing a new payment structure in the pharmacy sector.Following a successful legal challenge brought by some pharmacists, the HSE plans effectively collapsed and the former payment system had to be reintroduced.
The HSE is potentially facing having to pay tens of millions of euro back to pharmacists.
Official HSE reports in recent weeks suggested that the pharmacists' successful court action could cost it €50 million.
The HSE still wants to introduce reforms in the payment system for pharmacists.
