Pharmaceutical companies lower drug prices to qualify for state refund list

Polish pharmaceutical companies have decided to cut prices for many of their products by as much as 40% in the run-up to the Health Ministry's comp ilation of a list of drugs to be refunded by the state budget. The companies followed Health Minister Mariusz Lapinski's threat to cut expensive me dications out of the list. "We're impressed by the actions taken by the companies," said Health Ministry spokesperson Renata Furman. She added that further cuts would be welcome and could affect the list even after the formal deadline for its completion. The ministry hopes that the reductions will result in budget savings of up to zl. 1 billion. (Prawo i Godpodarka, p. 3; Zycie, p. 6) M.K.