Ministry widens refunded drug list and cuts its cost

The new regulations are to be introduced in mid February. The list contains about additional 500 drugs, which had not been refunded earlier. Most of them are generic products. Thanks to the changes it will be possible to decrease state's expenditure on medicines. Currently, the National Health Fund spends zl.7 billion on refunded medicines per year. Another 100 or so other medicines are waiting to be put on this list. On Friday the Health Ministry announced that twelve of them would be refunded. Among them are medicines for circulatory problems, asthma, and epilepsy. However, pharmaceutical companies are disappointed. Malgorzta Muerer, the chairperson of the association of innovative pharmaceutical companies, Infarma, said that changes are heading in a good direction but that patients still do not have access to the latest medicines. (Rzeczpospolita, January 6-7, p. A5) M.M.