Problem Banks

by Ducky Paredes (Malaya)

If you have hypertension (high blood pressure) as I do, chances are that you are taking Novas, a drug manufactured by Pfizer Philippines or a similar expensive drug as maintenance medicine. What the doctor prescribes for you will not cure you of hypertension. No drug can do this. All that Norvasc and others will do is to prevent your hypertension from getting any worse. This is why what the doctor prescribes is a maintenance dose.

Sadly, once you are on maintenance drugs, there is no stopping. Religiously, you have to take this and any other prescriptions of the doctor on a daily basis,

Norvasc, made in the Philippines, is priced at P44.75 per 5-milligram tablet and P74.57 for a 10 mg tablet. Imagine if one had to take this 7 days a week for a whole year. With a 20 percent senior discount, this adds up to P 21,774.44.

Yet, according to Chairman Roberto Pagdanganan of the Philippine International Trading Corp (PITC), in Pakistan, Norvasc is available at P5.98 per 5 mg tablet and P8.96 per 10 mg tablet.

PITC tried to bring this in from Pakistan but the courts have barred it as an infringement of Pfizer’s patent on the drug. Fortunately, that patent expires in June this year. Thus, says Pagdanganan, he will just wait Pfizer out and bring in the cheaper Pakistani product when the patent has expired.

Recently, Thermapharma, a division of United Laboratories came up with Amvasc (Amlodipine Camsylate), which is as close to Norvasc as one can get without actually infringing on its patent. The thermapharma product is sold at P17.50 per 5 mg. If one bought this for a year with a 20 percent senior discount, it would cost only P 5,110, a savings of P16,000 a year!

What did Pfizer do? Did it meet the price of Amvasc? Yes and no. It created the "sulit" card, which entitles one to a discount that, brings their price down to just a little above the price of Amvasc. To get the "sulit" card, one has to request one from his doctor. By creating the "sulit" card, Pfizer strengthened the role of the prescription giver.

He still controls the medication that you take and, because the "sulit" card came from the doctor himself, you now owe your doctor a favor and will probably never ask for the much cheaper alternative thinking that the doctor knows best and even gave you your discount!