health

Drugs withheld illegally

The major chains selling pharmaceuticals in Panama are dragging their feet in the dispensing of generic drugs, which is an "illegal" practice according to authorities in the pharmacy sector.

Rubén Carrera, president of the Colegio Nacional de Farmacéuticos says pharmacies have a moral and legal obligation to offer and dispense to consumers generic medicines, if they do not have the corresponding commercial brand prescribed by a doctor. "Lamentably, some pharmacies and other pharmaceutical merchants continue with the old illegal practice of trying to enrich themselves with commissions from the pharmaceutical companies by selling their products, to the detriment of their generic equivalents, which are cheaper," Carrera added.

The director of the department of Farmacias y Drogas del Ministerio de Salud, Eric Conte, also calls the practice of withholding generic drugs from patients "illegal." However, he attributed this behavior to "ignorance, lack of preparation, or an excess of zeal" among the people working in the pharmacies. "The law is very clear and provides that a doctor may prescribe a medicine by its commercial name or generic composition," regardless of what you might want the patient to get, he said.