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Cifarma Promotes Law to Regulate Judicial Injunctions for Medications
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Economy & Trade

Cifarma Promotes Law to Regulate Judicial Injunctions for Medications

From ABC Color · (3d ago) Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • Cifarma, the Chamber of the Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industry of Paraguay, is pushing for a law to regulate judicial injunctions for medications.
  • The organization argues that current injunctions often lack scientific basis, disrupting the public health system's drug provision.
  • Cifarma proposes a system where a medical committee would review requests before a judge orders state-funded treatments.

Gerardo García, president of Cifarma, the Chamber of the Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industry of Paraguay, has revealed that the organization is actively promoting a bill in the Senate aimed at establishing stringent scientific criteria for the granting of judicial injunctions related to medications. García contends that the current system, where judicial decisions heavily influence the allocation of funds for medicines, is one of the primary factors destabilizing the provision of pharmaceuticals within the public health system.

According to García, the budget for medications is frequently determined in courtrooms rather than through established health protocols. He highlighted that judicial injunctions, or "amparos," often lack a solid scientific foundation, relying instead on administrative documentation. To address this, Cifarma's proposed legislation seeks to ensure that a panel of recognized medical experts would have the final say before a judge mandates the state to cover treatments that may not be considered priorities within the national healthcare framework.

What is seen is to include certain scientific requirements prior to the injunction and not only commit one doctor, but a medical team represented by illustrious people whom we know will authorize what is necessary and the necessary quantity.

— Gerardo GarcíaCifarma president explaining the proposed criteria for judicial injunctions for medications.

This issue, García noted, is not unique to Paraguay but represents a regional phenomenon. As president of the Latin American Association of Pharmaceutical Industries, he has identified judicial injunctions as a significant challenge across the continent, emphasizing the need for clear rules of engagement. The proposed bill in Paraguay is seen as a crucial step towards establishing such clarity.

Beyond injunctions, Cifarma is also focused on updating the national pharmacopeia, particularly for catastrophic illnesses. García pointed out that seven biosimilar products are already manufactured locally for the National Cancer Institute's list of 31 essential drugs. The goal is to increase domestic production of high-quality generics to reduce costs and improve the efficiency of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare's budget. However, he stressed the importance of the ministry accurately assessing its demand and increasing its budget for the upcoming fiscal year. The ongoing negotiation of a substantial state debt to pharmaceutical companies, amounting to US$1.04 billion, with only a partial payment of US$180 million committed, adds another layer of complexity to the industry's challenges.

Today, I happen to be president of the Latin American Association of Industries and we touch on all the weak points. One of the points is the issue of judicial injunctions. It is a very difficult problem to solve if they do not have the rules of the game clearly defined. Fortunately, we have a bill.

— Gerardo GarcíaCifarma president discussing the regional nature of the judicial injunction problem and Paraguay's legislative efforts.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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