Bitter pill for price cheating drugs firms

The illegal price rises are leaving consumers as sick as a parrot

An urgent meeting was convened late last week between representatives of the Ministry of Health (MoH), Vietnam’s Drug Administration (VDA) and 13 enterprises found to be in violation of the rules.
An investigation conducted early last week revealed the 13 firms had unfairly inflated prices and weakened consumer confidence.
Cao Minh Quang, MoH Deputy Minister and VDA head, said: “The medicine price increases without a permit from concerned agencies have violated the mechanism on pharmaceutical price controls. Enterprises will have to re-adjust their prices back to those sold prior to December 31, 2006. The VDA will impose administrative fines and closely monitor the readjustment of the prices.”
At the meeting, the accused firms claimed they were a victim of pharmaceutical price increases on the international market.
The VDA said it had only received applications to increase prices from Vietnam Drugs Corporation member companies and pharmaceutical manufacturing firms, namely Zuellig Pharma, Diethelm Vietnam and Mega Vietnam companies Ltd. Quang said the investigations would continue to uncover unauthorised price rises.
“Furthermore, there remain pharmaceutical firms which do not post a medicine’s price as stipulated or sell medicines for even higher than the price tag,” he said.
Apart from four investigation teams operating in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the MoH and NAD have authorised provincial health departments to conduct investigations and check firms’ invoices.
Quang said some pharmaceutical manufacturing firms may face having their operating licences revoked if they continued to operate under the radar.
The investigation teams include representatives from the MoH, NDA, the Ministry of Trade’s Market Management Department and the Ministry of Finance’s Price Control Department and Financial Department of Enterprises.