THE government yesterday denied reports it was importing medicines in bulk in violation of the law.
The reports appeared in daily newspaper Alithia, which even got confirmation from Health Minister Andreas Gavrielides, who conceded that last Friday the government received an order of aspirin packed in 1,000-pill boxes.
Bulk imports of medicines was banned a few years ago.
According to the current legislation, pharmaceuticals have to be packaged in a certain way and carry the necessary labels in Greek.
DISY deputy Costas Constantinou accused the government of illegally importing medicines.
“They imported medicines in secret and using ways prohibited by the legislation,” the outspoken chairman of the House Health Committee said.
He said the drugs were imported without Greek labelling in violation of the law.
Constantinou added that the pills could cause problems to patients’ health.
The DISY deputy charged that the pills’ origin, quality, and procedure used to import them were unknown.
The state was essentially replacing the pharmaceutical industries and the importers, which was unacceptable, he added.
Alecos Stamatis, the representative of the importers, echoed Constantinou, noting that the medicines were not packaged properly and did not have any Greek labelling.
“I wonder if it is not illegal, why are there so many shortages and we cannot import drugs any more?” Stamatis asked.
Alithia said the pills were taken to the Nicosia and Limassol hospitals where the pharmacies were also provided with envelopes so that they could dispense them in batches of 30.
Gavrielides rejected the charges, pointing out that the aspirins were packaged in 1,000-pill containers the size of a glass.
And they were dispensed in small plastic containers with Greek labels, the minister said.
Gavrielides said the state was within its rights as long as it re-packaged the medicines for use in hospitals.
Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides confirmed that the imports were in line with EU regulations, which the government fully observed.
He took a shot at the importers who have been at loggerheads with the state since it announced its decision to cut prices.
“All the government’s imports until now are 20 to 50 per cent cheaper than the price list, and if the importers refuse to do so it proves that the 20 or 50 per cent profit on the medicines does not satisfy them,” the spokesman said.
He stressed that medicine prices would not change and the government would do anything possible to cover the shortages.
The government decision to cut prices was announced in December but the new price list was introduced in March.
But considerable medicine shortages have been experienced since its introduction, sparking a war of words between all the sides involved.
On top of that, importers have filed several lawsuits, totalling around £5 million, for damages incurred due to the implementation of the new price list.
