The director of the Health Insurance Fund, who is a signatory to the contract with private pharmacies, in accordance with the contract and contractual obligations, terminated the contract, independently, with full responsibility and the right to decide, it was announced to "Vijesta" from the Ministry of Health headed by Budimir Šegrt.
Director of the Fund, Kenan Hrapović, told "Vijesta" on Friday that he was against the decision to terminate the contract with private pharmacies until they expire on December 31, but also that he does not have the right to vote in the legal committee of the Fund because he only attends the sessions.
"The Ministry of Health is not a signatory to the contract and could not influence it, nor did it have the intention, because according to the signed contract, we do not have the right to do so, and as always we insist on respecting the law", the Ministry pointed out in response to a question from "Vijesti" addressed to Šegrt to comment on the suspension of the dispensing of prescription drugs in private pharmacies, the public dissatisfaction of pharmacists, as well as to answer whether this decision, implemented by the management of the Health Fund, is final.
When asked if he still thinks that there will be no shortage of drugs on the market and that Montefarm is capable of carrying out the annual procurement of drugs estimated at 15,77 million euros in a legal procedure, the answer was that "Montefarm has announced a tender for the procurement of drugs for 2016, in accordance with all legal regulations".
"We absolutely do not expect shortages, because Montefarm is fully equipped to provide an orderly supply of medicines in the coming period. Adequate quantities of medicines for the next year are provided for in the tender, the budget is provided, which is already included in the Bill on the Budget, so we do not expect any problems in that sense", added Šegrt's department.
As for the estimated value of medicines in this year's tender, they stated that Montefarm did not have data on the maximum prices of medicines because they have not yet been determined, since the deadline of 120 days, from the entry into force of the Regulation on the criteria for establishing the maximum price of medicines, expires on the 15th. December.
"The prices were determined on the basis of the lowest prices from previous tenders and significantly lower than the maximum prices of those drugs in the environment. Until the maximum prices for drugs are adopted by the Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices (CALIMS), Montefarm is not able to apply them. After the adoption of the maximum price of medicines, all legal entities that are registered for the sale of medicines, including Montefarm, will be obliged to apply it", the Ministry pointed out.
Although some suppliers complained that they were discriminated against during the preparation of the tender documents for the Montefarma tender, the government department claims that this state institution "supplied indicative specifications to all tender participants in 2014 and 2015".
"Regarding the complaint filed by the company "ADOC" from Belgrade on the tender documentation, I would not comment any more, because on Monday the State Commission for the Control of the Public Procurement Procedure will decide on their complaint", they concluded.
Apprentice: We do not believe that there is a pharmaceutical mafia in Montenegro
When asked if there are pharmaceutical mafias in Montenegro, the department headed by Šegrt replied that "they don't think there are pharmaceutical mafias, and if anyone thinks there is, they should report it to the competent institutions that deal with these issues".
When asked why the competent authorities never dealt with this phenomenon, especially considering the unusually high consumption of often (over)expensive drugs and medical equipment in Montenegro, the answer was that the issue is viewed from a different perspective.
"The obligation of the state, through the Ministry of Health and other institutions within the health system, is to define the conditions under which the procurement and prescription of medicines is carried out... In addition, the problem defined by the Ministry of Health, which can affect the consumption of medicines, is the prescribing practice. Quantity and the type of drug prescription is exclusively a matter of medical doctrine and prescribing practice, which obligates doctors of the state health system. Adequate control of the prescribing office practices, is also one of the main mechanisms any other influences, which are beyond interest patient or medical doctrine, because no one can give medicine or increase potrošnju pharmacy or hospital, if the doctors do not prescribe it", emphasized from the Ministry.
The problem of regulation of prescribing practice, they added, exists and the Health Fund and the Ministry as a supervisory body must primarily deal with it, which they do.
"It is obvious that there is enormous consumption, which we recognized and already after several months, with various measures, analyses, instructions and instructions, we defined a different way of control and positive effects are already felt in terms of savings and reduced consumption," claim the Government Department.
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