Eli went to the pharmacy to buy his father’s diabetes medication, only to be surprised that the drug that had been missing for two years and called Xigduo is available at its partially subsidized price, costing 2,700,000 Syrian pounds. Elie did not believe that they were now available and in the required quantities, as he bought 3 cans, only to discover later that their expiration date was nearing its end, i.e. in the month of July, noting that the date of manufacture was in the year 2020.
While the medicine was missing in Lebanon, Eli had to buy it from abroad, specifically from France, at a cost of 39 euros, i.e. a much higher cost, and yet he had no other choice so that his father’s health would not deteriorate.
On the other hand, the head of the Pharmacists Syndicate, Joe Salloum, confirmed in a phone call with Al-Nahar that, “About a month ago, companies and warehouses began handing pharmacies a large number of medicines whose expiration date is approaching.
Rima is trying hard to search for medicines for her father, who suffers from diabetes, high blood pressure, and problems in the digestive system. The journey of searching for his medicines is exhausting and tiring, and she lives as she says, “Every month after another. The medicine we get after painstaking effort, and after several visits to pharmacies.”
However, he shared with us what happened recently when she was looking for diabetes medicine for her father, known as Jentaduento, saying: “I bought the box with a different caliber 2.8/850 while I used to buy it with a caliber of 2.8/1000, and I paid 4,300,000 for it, only to find out later that its expiration date expires.” In the month of May, just a month later. AndI found a box of Megamac that expired in March, so I refrained from buying it and preferred to search in another pharmacy, hoping to find it with a longer expiration date so that my father could benefit from it.
The head of the Syndicate of Drug Importers, Karim Jabara, has another explanation of what is happening recently in the matter of these drugs, and he explains to “An-Nahar” that “for example, but not limited to, the shipment of the Xigduo drug, which is still subsidized, arrived late, specifically in February and included only 750 packages, as a result Low demand and purchasing power of the citizen.
Because of the delay in the arrival of the shipment, the validity of the medicine was only a few months, but why the delay? Jabara answers: “We, as importers, place our orders in advance in the factory, which begins to manufacture them immediately, but the order is not shipped before the approvals and the support process are opened, and therefore these medicines remain there until the approvals are opened and the approval of the Ministry of Health to be shipped. Accordingly, the medicine remains in the factory for a period of time. .
The second reason, according to Jabara, is that despite the arrival of the shipment, the demand for these subsidized medicines decreased due to the decline in the purchasing power of the citizen. The stock, which was previously sufficient for 4 or 5 months, is now sufficient for about a year, due to the decrease in demand and purchasing power.
Likewise, Jabara refutes the details of the 10/1000 caliber Xigduo drug, which expires in July 2023, i.e. after 3 months, while the 1000/5 Xigduo expires in February 2024. And 756 boxes of Xigduo (10/1000 caliber) arrived in February 2023. As of 650 cans have been sold out, and the remainder are expected to be sold out within a week.
So, these medicines were not stored, but arrived in February 2023, and the quantity is limited (750 boxes only), and they were sold at the subsidized price. Any pharmacy that sells this drug without subsidies must be reported.
While the other medicines dealt with by some media outlets are not subsidized and their expiration date is approaching, and after an investigation was opened by the Ministry of Health, it was found that they were imported after the stage of lifting subsidies, and were not previously stored as some have promoted.
In the end, Jbara concludes, “The Ministry of Health follows up on every shipment and every drug with its medicine, especially the unsubsidized one, and monitors importers through the drug tracking system, which reveals the arrival of the shipment and the party that received the drug.”
It is no secret that what is happening in the drug file is similar to other files that witnessed waste and corruption, and the one who pays the price is the citizen who has become unable to buy his medicines due to the high price. So what awaits us next?