NewsWhore
09-04-2007, 04:40 PM
The Representatives, Agents and Pharmaceutical Producers' Association (ARAPF) has announced that they have resolved their differences with the government on the issue of medical prescriptions. ARAPF vice president Fernando Ferreras says that doctors can now prescribe any medicine to patients, whether generic or name brand. Ferreras explained that doctors wanted the freedom to prescribe the medicine they thought most appropriate. Ferreras added that importers and producers would try to ensure that the agreement is being fulfilled. Importers and producers had expressed concern that the sector would be ruined if doctors were only permitted to prescribe generic medicines.
But even if some loose ends are still being tied up and officials seem optimistic about the new health plan's entry into effect, many patients still don't know their rights under the SFS, despite government efforts to explain the details. Hoy writes that yesterday things continued as normal and that specialist doctors at private clinics were charging as usual between RD$300 and RD$400 per consultation and that some were even charging to see lab results. The new system establishes that patients should see first an internist and pay only a RD$100 difference.
Hoy also writes that most people they interviewed didn't even know that the SFS had come into effect over the weekend. Public Health Minster Bautista Rojas Gomez admitted that the SFS was experiencing some problems but added that this was normal at this stage of the introduction process. Hoy reporters visited several clinics in Santo Domingo and found that things hadn't changed, to the point where the health risk administrators (ARS) haven't explained the changes to their affiliates. Hoy reporters asked a secretary at the Gynecological and Obstetric clinic about the "Receta Unica" (single prescription form), and the secretary replied, "What's that?"
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#3)
But even if some loose ends are still being tied up and officials seem optimistic about the new health plan's entry into effect, many patients still don't know their rights under the SFS, despite government efforts to explain the details. Hoy writes that yesterday things continued as normal and that specialist doctors at private clinics were charging as usual between RD$300 and RD$400 per consultation and that some were even charging to see lab results. The new system establishes that patients should see first an internist and pay only a RD$100 difference.
Hoy also writes that most people they interviewed didn't even know that the SFS had come into effect over the weekend. Public Health Minster Bautista Rojas Gomez admitted that the SFS was experiencing some problems but added that this was normal at this stage of the introduction process. Hoy reporters visited several clinics in Santo Domingo and found that things hadn't changed, to the point where the health risk administrators (ARS) haven't explained the changes to their affiliates. Hoy reporters asked a secretary at the Gynecological and Obstetric clinic about the "Receta Unica" (single prescription form), and the secretary replied, "What's that?"
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#3)