A resolute no to limitations on pharmaceutical spending "exclusively based on accountancy criteria, released from the identification of the priority welfare needs of the population". The Italian Federation of General Practitioners (Fimmg) reaffirms its positions after the meeting of the national secretariat last Friday. "The drug, if used correctly - he continues - is an important aid not only in the treatment of acute diseases, but above all in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases, which constitute the real challenge to be overcome for the sustainability in the near future of a health service oriented towards the protection of an aging population". For these reasons, the trade union acronym stigmatizes "the criminalization and limitation of the use of drugs, aimed at budget cosmetics, which - he says - could prove to be a medium and long-term boomerang for the health of Italians". Otherwise, the Fimmg suggests that the government of pharmaceutical expenditure is based, rather than on expenditure ceilings, on a careful evaluation of the costs/benefits, on an extensive use of generic drugs in all possible cases, as well as on an articulated definition of priorities. Finally – he adds – on a national regulatory activity, oriented in this direction by the Italian Medicines Agency (Aifa)”. To underline this last point, the federation states that it shares “AIFA's positions on the meaning of Lea, with regard to pharmaceutical assistance. Assistance which – he urges – does not need to be adapted to the different cultural and organizational realities of the Italian Regions”.
There are three fundamental principles that Fimmg deems "indispensable for the correct performance of the professional activity, in the interest of the citizen's health". It begins with the "full autonomy of the prescriptive act, primarily instructed by science, conscience and therapeutic appropriateness, which is a constituent element of the medical profession, both in the local area and in the hospital, as well as representing a foundation of the relationship of trust between doctor and patient. The second principle concerns the "non-substitutability of the prescribed drug, whether generic or not". Furthermore, as regards the unsigned drug, beyond any concept of bioequivalence, Fimmg underlines that "pharmaceutical products are not identical to each other and, especially in the treatment of chronic diseases, the uncontrolled passage from one product to another can cause damage to the patient's health". Finally, “the firm rejection of bureaucratic burdens in the prescriptive deed, aimed at discouraging him, increasing his exposure to fiscal control and sanctioning actions, released from any logic of welfare appropriateness. The reorganization of general medicine, and the strengthening of territorial social-health assistance - concludes the union - will not be possible if a climate of trust and mutual respect is not created between the Government and the Regions on one side and professionals on the other. The repetition of acts that systematically violate the three principles set out above compromises the establishment of this climate and with it the improvement of the quality of assistance provided by our NHS”.
From “DoctorNews”
