Even going to the pharmacy hurts: Deregulation drives drug prices sky high, testimony from people who leave without being able to buy

According to a report prepared by the Center of Pharmaceutical Professionals of Argentina (Saprofar) and the most updated estimate calculated from this space, The cost of medicines has increased by 140 percent in the last two months. As a result, people go on trips to pharmacies: they face such an amount that they run away in terror, or they buy half the remedies they need and visit others in search of better possibilities. Employees, for their part, update the amount almost weekly, which compounds the problem: A customer carries a value product on the shelf and buys a higher value when he goes to checkout. Strong spices are added to this cocktail: Prepaid companies will increase their installments for January, February and March, which may reach 80-85 percent of the total. So many people do the math and project how long they will be able to pay for private medicine. Providers also dust off their calculators and estimate a flight of 500 thousand affiliates.

“It must be clarified that drug prices were not kept up; in fact, as of November 1, they kept pace with inflation. From January 1 to October 31, 2023, their prices increased by 123 percent, and inflation up to that point was 120 . In the following months, that is, during November and December, everything changed: with the latest increases they corresponded to 300 percent accumulated during the year and the annual inflation was estimated at 170, which ended up doubling inflation.“, says Reuben Sagem, Director of Saprofer. And he continues with a description of the phenomenon experienced in many pharmacies in the country: “Together with colleagues we try to recommend alternative brands, we talk to people, we try to make sure that they do not abandon treatment, but sometimes it happens. Going. Very difficult. Many come in, check the prices, double their prescription, save it and leave. “We don’t know if they’re going to shop anywhere else, or if they ever will.” Often, the most aggressive capitalism shows that popular sayings are just that: sayings. Saying “health is priceless” may represent, at this point, a romantic wish, but it doesn’t do justice to what happens every day in the nation’s pharmacies.

Cutting health is tantamount to inserting a scissor’s edge into basic human rights. Perhaps as in any other area, it is clearly seen that the economic deregulation proposed by the present government based on DNU, has society as its main target and not, as expected, political caste. So, in the middle of January, far from calm souls, the streets get hotter. Not knowing how much drugs will cost, not knowing whether necessary treatment for chronic illness can be continued, not knowing the future behavior of prepaid companies, feeds the scenario of uncertainty on the brink of explosion. And this is just the beginning.

Who can legislate a cure?

Price regulation, through agreements between the previous government and laboratories, ended on October 31; So, until that moment, the amounts generally keep pace with inflation. However, when the contracts were finalised, there was an increase from the beginning of November. “We estimate that if we consider only the last two months, it has increased by 140 percent. Maybe it’s not very well understood in terms of percentages but people are very clear about it every time they enter and leave the pharmacy.” says Sajem.

He then continues his explanation with the specific problem that lack of access to medicines can cause in patients with chronic conditions. “With over-the-counter remedies we see people withholding them and not choosing to buy them. Regarding prescribed drugs, antihypertensive treatment is already 70 or 100 thousand pesos per month. Skipping it affects health which leads to poor quality of life.” In parallel, it must be considered that business does not stop even from a business perspective. For the system, it is more expensive to care for a patient in intensive care than to treat them before they reach a critical condition.

inside In a recent statement, the Social Work of the Province of Buenos Aires (IOMA) shares the following: “The liberalization of prices and the non-intervention of the national government to regulate them, has added to the brutal devaluation of 118 percent, which has led to the situation that institutions associated with social work that had 100% coverage in their outpatients or chronic. For drug treatment today, they would have to pay unimaginable amounts in November. In the case of drugs, as in public knowledge, During the last few months, expenses have registered an extraordinary rise above the average price increase in the economy; For example, it can be said that in the first 15 days of December 2023, there has been a 37% increase in the value of medicines dispensed. Thus, the cumulative increase in the year is 311% while inflation in the same period cumulatively in November is 148% according to INDEC (National Institute of Statistics and Census).”

Consistent with the IOMA statement, Fabian Puratrich, former Undersecretary for Health Systems Integration In the health portfolio, led by Carla Vizotti, puts a magnifying glass on laboratories. “Increases in drugs have vastly outpaced inflation. But he did it without any justification, just look at the annual balance sheet of any laboratory. No one was harmed, far from it,” he comments on page 12. And he continues with his explanation: “They are so expensive that they become unaffordable and, of course, everything falls on the public system. “Anyone who goes to a pharmacy and can’t get medicine, then they look for a public hospital to see how they can get it.”

From Puratrich’s point of view, less than a month before the inauguration, the president wants to withdraw the state in this area as well. Two examples in this regard: on the one hand, Extending the 2023 budget to 2024, which, through inflation, will not be able to cover all needs; On the other hand, the elimination of the National Agency of Public Laboratories, in charge of promoting the public production of drugs in the various provinces.

In pharmacy… but as researchers

Mario lives in the province of Buenos Aires and regularly visits the pharmacy in Avellaneda. Over the years he has suffered from chronic health problems that he must treat with three medications. Given the extras without a roof, you don’t know how to pay them. It’s a critical issue, a reason for days of exclusive talk in his family. “I call one pharmacy, I go to another. I contact a person I know for a long time, but they do not answer me. It is not the fault of the employees either. It’s really hard to know what’s best when the price landscape changes daily. There will come a time when you won’t be able to pay them anymore, and unfortunately it won’t be for long.”, he states.

Mario You can still buy them, however, there are other patients who come in with their prescription, check the prices, and go home with nothing. Mario warns that this anxiety translates into numbers. “It has increased the most, an obvious example being amoxicillin, the most widely used antibiotic. It was 3,300 pesos in early November and is now available at 7,800. Among the brands of Ibuprofen, syrup for children which was around 3,000 pesos, is now more than 5,500. Among drugs for cholesterol control, the treatment was around monthly. 15 thousand pesos, now 30 thousand”, lists Sajem. A few more can be mentioned in this table: the price of contraceptives doubled; Digestif in drops already costs about 7 thousand pesos; antispasmodic for gastrointestinal pain or some decongestant drops for nose, 4 thousand; Ointments commonly used for children reach 10 thousand; and eye drops, 5 thousand.

rule, who frequents a pharmacy in Palermo, tells his case. “We have to buy remedies anyway, especially since they are for chronic diseases. That’s why I stop buying something for a cold and try to solve it with tea with honey. Everything doubled or tripled, much more expensive; Everything grows so much that dimensions are lost” Bonding with employees is important in pharmacies, in fact, Norma expresses it with an example: “There is a remedy that I had a prescription for and I didn’t buy it because I still had it, but after talking to the pharmacist, he convinced me to buy it. He told me that even if I don’t need it right now, it’s fine for me to take it, because the price will be different the next day.“

Apart from the cost of medicines, the quantity of two essential items has also increased, the consumption of which usually skyrockets at this time of the year. is for reference Mosquito repellent and sunscreen. As for the former, they are important, for example, to prevent the bites of Aedes aegypti (which can transmit dengue) or Aedes albofasciatus (responsible for the transmission of equine encephalitis). In this case, you will have to spend between 3 and 8 thousand pesos (depending on its aerosol or cream formulation) to use it. As far as sunscreens are concerned, their essential function is to protect the skin from the sun’s rays and prevent diseases like cancer. Prices are variable (depending on the brand, product size and the security they offer) and most fluctuate between 6 and 16 thousand pesos.

These changes are the product of a very specific policy, promoted by the last DNU. In a previous note published by this newspaper, it has been explained how, based on some changes introduced in the rules – determining low-cost public production, authorization of marketing at any point of sale – not “only”. The prices of drugs are low, but they seem to be controlled by the chambers of owners of big pharmacies.”

Prepaid, calculators and surprises

Prepaid drug companies do the same and, without any controls due to the deregulation brought about by the Miley Decree, they give free rein to excess. In addition to the roughly 40 percent increase in January, health providers have already announced increases of nearly 30 percent for February. In this case, the excuse is that they have to raise fees to “maintain adequate health care service.” Even more remarkable is that the climb won’t stop until March, when the picture will fill in with another 10 or 15 percent.

Affiliates, for their part, are informed through letters or emails and accounts are drawn up to project how long they will be able to sustain payments for the private service. If all the increases planned for the first quarter of 2024 are finally realized, They can reach as high as 80-85 percent. According to the last DNU, there are only two ways out: pay what the companies request or cancel.

Likewise, these days, there are other aspects to consider. Regardless of the increase in the prepaid payment amount, a new event is registered: Doctors who, for their part, decide to charge co-payments when they previously did not. Obviously, an increase in firms does not automatically increase the value of services provided by professionals.

Getting sick is not an option, however, because when the state withdraws—or neoliberal governments themselves withdraw—the market does its usual magic: it “self-regulates.” therefore Only the most powerful actors stand and health becomes a right that only the few can afford.

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