After different meetings with pharmaceutical laboratories, drug distributors, pharmacy chains and independent pharmacies, the Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture of Panama (CCIAP) warns the authorities that the timely implementation of Executive Decree 17 of August 10 is in danger of 2022, according to the times established therein, for which it considers it responsible to postpone its entry into force.
The measure that reduces the price of 170 medications by 30%, in addition to recognizing the 20% discount for retirees and pensioners, entails making adjustments to the retail price of approximately 900 pharmaceutical products, in some 800 pharmacies nationwide; however, there is still no clarity on how this adjustment will be applied among the actors in the marketing chain, given that pharmacies cannot face the measure on their own, and distributors have not received a specific response from each one. of the pharmaceutical laboratories with which they have a commercial relationship.
It should be noted that the private company represented in the Technical Table for Medications opposed the measure applied since it did not consider the information on real margins of distributors and pharmacies managed by the Authority for Consumer Protection and Defense of Competition (ACODECO). ), for which he considered it unfeasible, in addition to being extremely difficult to audit, due to the way it has been structured.
The CCIAP has indicated on multiple occasions that imposing figures such as price control, profit margin control and trade barriers end up affecting not only the country’s private sector, but also the consumers themselves. This occasion will not be the exception, where the most impacted will be the pharmacies, especially the small ones, who interact directly with the country’s patients.
