E-drug: Drug Prices in Pakistan (cont)
dear Joel,
I received your response to my review from a colleague because I'm not
linked into the E-drug network. Please use my personal e-mail address for
future correspondence.........watson_keith@lilly.com
In answer to your questions below:
1) There is not really an "essential drug list", only a list of "controlled
drugs" published in 1993, containing about 350 compounds, some of which
could be described as "essential", some not, As Dr. Zafar Mirza from the
Network points out there wasn't really any rhyme nor reason to how the list
was compiled, other than value of annual sales. I believe the intention at
the time was to "get a rope" around about 70% of the market in value so
even some of the most innocuous medicines found themselves in the
Controlled list.
However, Eli Lilly has 9 of our 21 drugs registered in Pakistan in the
"Controlled List" representing about 60% of our sales value. I wonder why
you asked this question ?
2) Difficult to answer because we would not be comparing "apples with
apples" -
how do you compare the price of, say, an injectable antibiotic with an
oncolytic agent ? What I can say is that the price increases allowed in the
last 5 years have been 29% for de-controlled, and only 21% for controlled.
3) Lilly does have an internal code of ethical behaviour, which goes beyond
the IFPMA code of practice.
4) All our labelling would follow exactly the labelling from the developed
markets, especially in terms of side effects, contraindications and
warnings.
I suppose you are wondering whether we routinely "dump" banned medicines in
markets like Pakistan ? I'm amazed that anybody would imagine that any
World-renowned Multi-national pharmaceutical company would risk its
hard-won reputation, a reputation which, in Lilly's case has been built up
over 120 years in this business, by doing such things. In any case, at a
purely practical level, with the efficiency of communication in the
"Internet Age", how could any company get away with it ?
I hope I have answered your questions, and allayed any fears that you might
have had about our ethics and integrity.
Keith Watson.
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end
WB]
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