Treasure Ireland contd.

Troika chief: Pharmaceutical drug costs cannot be justifiedFriday, November 01, 2013The head of the European Commission’s troika mission to Ireland told Government TDs the cost of pharmaceutical drugs here cannot be justified, and is at least three times more expensive than in Britain.By Juno McEnroe Political ReporterIstvan Szekely, EC director of economic and financial affairs, told the delegation of Fine Gael and Labour TDs that pharmaceutical drug costs were an outstanding issue and were “not sustainable”. Mr Szekely’s comments came after troika sources earlier this week told the Irish Examiner there were “substantial” savings still to be made through generic drugs which would be “less painful” than medical card changes. In a private meeting with five Government TDs yesterday, the EC Troika chief said the costs of pharmaceutical drugs in Ireland were “three times more than your nearest neighbour”, sources on both sides of the talks confirmed. This was “just not sustainable”, Mr Szekely then told the TDs. Labour TD Kevin Humphreys confirmed the remarks. Mr Szekely’s criticism came as senior officials with the Department of Health and the HSE met the Troika for three hours in Dublin yesterday and discussed the shortage in its 2013 budget and the €666m savings planned next year. Health Minister James Reilly faces pressure to outline the €113m savings from a review of medical cards as well as the €248m through work...
Source: PharmaGossip - Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Source Type: blogs