Importers of medicines go to court

May 23, 2012 8:27 AM

WILLEMSTAD - The association of Importers of Pharmaceutical Products (VIPP) consulted lawyer Michael Bonapart to institute legal proceedings against the government. The new maximum tariffs for medicines are illogical, according to the VIPP.

The association expects this will not only affect the importer but also the pharmacists.The new tariffs are based on an advice from a committee of experts who had worked with the recommendations from August to December last year. According to the government, the importers of pharmaceutical products had also been invited to participate in the renewal course but the association had apparently missed this opportunity. “That’s not true”, said Jan Beaujon from VIPP. “From the very beginning we requested data from the government but we only received percentages. These are the same percentages read in the media. They don’t mean a thing.”

According to the government, the pharmaceutical costs are one of the largest components of the medical costs on Curaçao, namely 25 percent. The prices of medicines on the island are supposedly considerably higher than similar medicines in other countries. From a price comparison of packaged medicine on Curaçao that are mentioned on the ‘International Drug Price Indicator’ it appears that the prices on Curaçao are 5 to 50 times more expensive. Also the prices of many medicines on Curaçao are higher compared to those in the Netherlands. Maximum prices must be set for all medicines on the island in order to come up with affordable good quality medicines, according to the government. The maximum prices are the lowest prices of medicines in the Netherlands and the United States. These prices are updated every six months. The effects of the measures will be evaluated and if necessary increased.
 
According to Beaujon, the importers are willing to sacrifice but this must be done in a responsible manner. “A mark-up of 20 percent is impossible. We could accept an average mark-up of 25 percent. Some products such as medicines for diabetics, already have a maximum mark-up of 10 percent and we’re not allowed to increase this to 20 percent. Several years ago the government also decided that the mark-up for contraceptives may not exceed 20 percent. We didn’t take this into consideration. I can lower the mark-up but that means I’ll have to fire personnel and cannot offer the pharmacists any scope. In that case pharmacists can only purchase in bulk and pay cash. In the end, they will not survive because the public medical insurers don’t pay the invoices on time.”
 
However, the government guarantees there’ll be no shortage of medicines with the introduction of this measure. If importers don’t stick to a medicine stock that covers the demand for three months, the odds are that their license will be withdrawn. Furthermore, other importers could be attracted or the government could perhaps import the necessary medicines themselves for the people.

Michael Bonapart is an attorney at law and partner of law firm Soliana Bonapart Aardenburg on Curacao.