DOH snub

By Egay Uy

THE Department of Health (DOH) snubbed the city committee on trade and commerce last Wednesday! I understand the FDA and the association of pharmacies in the city were also invited but they performed the magical disappearing act – they never showed up!

The committee chairman, Councilor George Goking, asked me to narrate the complaint. I had to struggle narrating the antecedents that led to the discovery of the unconscionable, exorbitant and excessive prices of medicines in a private hospital. Of course, I had to recount Juliet’s difficult times while in hospital confinement until her demise on Jan. 2.

Questions that I posed related to medicine pricing in private hospitals could have been readily answered and clarified by the DOH representatives had they had the respect for the authority of the city trade and commerce committee.

The committee vice-chairperson, Councilor Edna Dahino, also expressed dismay over the unexplained failure of the DOH officials to be around. She suggested, and correctly so, that the DOH be invited to the city council in plenary session on Monday – that’s today. Councilor Goking added a devastating blow – that if the snub would continue, then the DOH officials would face personae non gratae declaration.

It would have been easy for the DOH to clarify matters and commit to taking action in areas of concern where its action is needed. But no, it chose to defy the invitation of the city committee. Is it playing hardball? That’s a bad decision, if I may advance a piece of unsolicited advice.

During the proceedings, somebody gave me a piece of paper that showed several types of medicines. The source listed several medicines whose prices she compared. The prices of medicines in another private hospital showed prices higher by more than 30 percent compared to prices in the hospital pharmacy.

Another medicine had a price difference of more than sixty percent (60 percent) although the brands were not the same.

All the DOH should do is conduct a fact-finding investigation for it to open its eyes to the fact that the prices of medicines in private hospitals are practically killing patients. Don’t play dumb, sirs and madams. Do your job. Don’t be too passive telling us you do not have the authority. Do something positive and do justice to your salaries. 

Call me a broken record but I will put it on record that my dear Juliet will be remembered in this cause – question the exorbitant, excessive, and unconscionable prices of medicines in private hospitals.

(Egay Uy is a lawyer. He chairs the City’s Regulatory and Complaint Board, co-chairs with the city mayor the City Price Coordinating Council, and chairs the city’s Joint Inspection Team.  He retired as a vice president of Cepalco.)