MOH price regulation may leave hospitals without vital drugs - doctor

State intervention in the regulation of free market relations does not lead to a positive effect. After the new rules of the pharmaceutical market come into force, hospitals risk being left without vital medicines, because it will be unprofitable for manufacturers to sell them. This opinion was expressed in an exclusive comment to UNN by anesthesiologist Ivan Chernenko.

The market will not sell you a drug cheaper than it actually costs on the market. This is a market economy. That is, price regulation has never ended positively

According to him, the government's idea of ​​reference pricing with a focus on average prices in neighboring countries will lead not to savings in budget funds, but to the suspension of tenders and an actual shortage of some vital medicines, in particular in hospitals.

"No one wants to sell to hospitals at the price that the Ministry of Health or the Cabinet of Ministers came up with, I don't know who sets these prices. And hospitals, they cannot buy vitamin K. Although it is in the guideline, it must be administered to newborns without fail. That is, it is in the protocol, but they cannot buy it," Chernenko said.

According to him, in this situation, manufacturers will be forced to include a larger margin on other drugs in order to cover the difference for a particular drug.

In my opinion, this is a little wrong. That is, what kind of cost savings are we talking about if hospitals are still forced to buy (medicines at market prices - ed.)

He added that due to unclear and unfavorable conditions, some international pharmaceutical companies are already preparing to reduce their presence in Ukraine. This may jeopardize the provision of hospitals with quality medicines.

"Some representatives of international pharmaceutical companies are already openly saying that they are preparing to either reduce their representation or withdraw from the market, because this whole regulation is not interesting to them. This is no longer a market economy, in fact, it is a slightly different story. From my basic knowledge of economics, this does not end well," the doctor summed up, adding that pharmacy chains and distributors are also considering reducing their presence in the market due to unfavorable conditions for work.

Let us remind

Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 168 of February 14, 2025 provides for new rules regulation of the pharmaceutical market. In particular, restrictions were introduced on markups on supply and marketing and retail markups for all medicines, and not only for certain categories. In addition, the resolution prohibits retail from entering into marketing agreements with pharmaceutical manufacturers, which allowed pharmacies to offer discounts to patients, implement social projects and train pharmacists.

The purpose of the resolution was to reduce the prices of medicines and increase their availability to the population. At the same time, patient organizations warned that excessive regulation may lead to a shortage of medicines, the closure of pharmacies in small towns and villages, as well as the termination of social programs to support patients.

As reported UNN in the State Regulatory Service, despite the fact that this resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers is regulatory, it did not undergo their expertise. They emphasized that this is a violation of the Law on Regulatory Policy. The Ministry of Justice and the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada for Human Rights also did not provide their conclusions to the draft resolution. In particular, Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets appealed to the Ministry of Health and the regulatory service due to the risks of closing pharmacies in villages and small towns.