The Philippine Hospital Association (PHA) said that it is not right to accuse various hospitals in the country of overpricing antiviral drug Remdesivir that is being used for the treatment of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients.
PHA President Dr. Jaime Almora said that the price of Remdesivir being sold by hospitals is based on the price set by distributors.
"Very unfair yung ginagawa ng DOH (Department of Health). Pinapalabas niya tuloy na ang mga hospital ay masasama. Naniniwala naman ang mga tao na overpricing yun. Eh yun ang bigay ng distributor (What the DOH is doing is very unfair. It made the hospitals at fault here and the people believed that we were overpricing (Remdesivir). But that was the price set by the distributors)," said Almora in an interview on ABS-CBN's Teleradyo on Friday, July 16.
READ:
https://mb.com.ph/2021/04/23/doh-warns-public-on-overpricing-of-remdesivir/
"Dahil sa pronouncement ng DOH na P5,000 ang Remdesivir, lumalabas tuloy na nag-ooverprice ang hospital. Napakasakit ho niyan. Kasalanan ng DOH yan (Due to DOH's pronouncement that the Remdesivir is worth P5,000, it seems like the hospitals are overpricing (this drug). That is very painful. It is the DOH's fault)," he added.
Almora said that hospitals were able to buy Remdesivir from distributors worth at least P23,000.
Last June, the DOH said that the suggested retail price for Remdesivir per vial is between P1,500 to P8,200. The use of the antiviral drug requires a compassionate use permit from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Related story:
https://mb.com.ph/2021/06/01/doh-dti-investigate-complaints-on-overpricing-remdesivr/