Biron woes

News going around coffee shops these days is that the country’s largest drug store chain, Mercury Drug Corp., is supporting the the Philippine Medical Association (PMA)’s position on the brewing controversy over the “generics-only-prescription” provision of  the house version of the Cheaper Medicine bill.

It would not be surprising if the report proves true. Mercury Drug has had long years of partnership with the medical community and understands the latter’s concerns and reservations over the controversial provision which threatens doctors with suspension or revocation of license if they write anything else other than the generic name of a medicine on their prescription pad.

And if reports are true that Mercury Drug is backing the medical community on this row, then that means more woes for the already beleaguered author of that provision, Iloilo solon Ferjenel Biron.

Biron was placed on the national hot seat following revelations that his family owns a company that trades and imports generic drugs. The name of the company is Phil Pharmawealth which was founded in 1993 by Biron himself.

The company’s website shows that its president is one Diana G. Biron. It also enumerates the generic medicines which the Biron family firm distributes and imports from other countries like India and South Korea.

Biron may feel that the suspicions of vested interests spurred by Phil Pharmawealth are unkind and unfair to him. After all, the Iloilo solon says he made no secret of the fact that his family is heavily involved in the generic drug importation and trading business.

Biron, of course, deserves the benefit of the doubt. He may after all be well-meaning in his “generics-only-prescribing” crusade.

But he also needs to understand that the Filipino public places a high premium on the value of delicadeza. It is difficult for them to buy the excuse that the disclosure of the Phil Pharmawealth interest is reason enough for one to believe that the family generic drugs business has nothing to do with Biron’s championing of the “generics-only-prescribing” provision.

 At the end of the day, the Phil Pharmawealth issue is not only Biron’s woe. It is also a setback to the credibility of the House version of the Cheaper Medicine bill. The Phil Pharmawealth issue resurrects public suspicion that legislations cater to vested interests.

This is unfortunate because the real issue is not Biron’s Phil Pharmawealth but the seriously adverse implications of the “generics-only-prescribing” provision of his House bill.

The PMA, which now reportedly has the backing of the Mercury Drug group, is concerned that such provision limits the choice of the Filipino consumer – if he knows his choices at all. The concern is valid and understandable. Faced with a “generics only” prescription, it is certain that the Filipino consumer will leave the final decision as to which generic medicine variation to buy in the hands of the person manning the drugstore counter.

That Filipino consumer would be lucky if the person behind the counter is a full-fledged licensed pharmacist. And we all know that could be too much to expect.

The medical community says it is batting for the “informed choice” approach where the patient knows what the doctor thinks is the best brand available for his treatment and what the generic variations are. The patient then would have the final say on what to buy when he gets to the drugstore counter: the generic variety or the doctor’s recommended brand.

That perhaps is the essence of the crusade for affordable medicines: the power of choice is placed in the hands of the consumer. Not in the hands of the prescribing physician. Not in the hands of the drugstore personnel. Not in the hands of drug manufacturers.

And certainly not in the hands of companies that trade on and import generic drugs.

Agriculture’s High Growth

Malacañang is in an upbeat mood these days, with a better-than-expected Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in 2007, which, according to the assessments made by global institutions, is even higher than the economic expansion rates posted by other major Southeast Asian economies like Malaysia and Singapore.

Economic managers expecting GDP growth this year to reach 6.7 to 7.3 percent, due in part to last year’s 4.68 percent expansion of the agriculture sector, which accounts for almost a fifth of the Philippine economy.

In fact, the strong performance of the farm sector despite the climate change along with other positive economic indicators subsequently prompted the National Economic and Development Authority along with international financial institutions like the Asian Development Bank, World Bank and International Monetary Fund to revise and upgrade the 2007 growth estimate for the Philippine economy. 

The surprise growth of Philippine agriculture, which was roughly a fourth higher than the 2006 expansion of 3.84 percent, is even more remarkable against the backdrop of the dry spell that struck Luzon’s palay- and corn-producing areas midway through 2007.

Despite the dry spell that had initially threatened to cripple farm growth in the second semester of 2007, Philippine agriculture was able to reach the government’s original forecast of a four to five percent full-year expansion range.

According to Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, his deparment’s growth targets for most agriculture subsectors were reached or even surpassed mainly because of the quick turnaround (QTA) program and other well-timed intervention measures put in place by the DA to contain the devastating impact on farms of the climate change.

The QTA, for instance, increased palay harvest to 350,000 tons and of corn to 200,000 tons. The significant impact on rice production of this program, which involves a third planting season, has prompted Yap to institutionalize the QTA for palay starting this year and onwards as part of a long-term strategy to raise yields by at least 20 percent annually and eventually attain national self-sufficiency for our food staple. 

Yap has also revealed that the adoption of a third planting season via the QTA program on a permanent basis will help raise palay output this year by 5.78 percent to a historic peak of 17.3 million tons, and achieve a national self-sufficiency level of 92 percent.

Next time, let’s try to look into other measures that have been put in place by Yap to help the country achieve food self-sufficiency, probably the biggest legacy of the Arroyo administration.

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