Generic prices can trigger – and it is the cheapest products that suffer the most from the urban wastewater treatment charges imposed by the EU.
“We can be talking about increases up to 800% in various medicines. This is the case of metformin, an antidiabetic, ”he says to the president of the Portuguese Association of Medicines for Health Equity, João Paulo Nascimento.
It all depends on the concentration and format of medicines, but in this case, for example, a more common antibiotic ODS, amoxicillin, the price may quadripy. Today, it does not exceed 10 €, but it can even reach 40. What’s going on?
Concerned is a European guideline which arises as a result of a study that reveals that urban wastewater has a toxic load of 92%. Who will have the responsibility for treating these waters is the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industryexplains to the president of the National Association of Pharmacies, EMA Paulino.
Then comes a new rate to be applied to pharmaceutical products To compensate for this water treatment, with application deadline until 2028.
The charge will be made by the number of units sold, so generics – which correspond only to 20% of the total market – should be those that lead to most costs, about 60%.
According to Ema Paulino, companies (and even the Government of Poland) are asking for a review of the guideline to the European Court of Justice, since generics, cheaper products, have only two “options: or increases the price to accommodate costs or medications are no longer viable and have to be removed from the market ”.
“Cost accounts were not made correctly,” laments the pharmacist. “It is estimated that the charge of the pharmaceutical industry will be much higher than what the European Union has identified.”
