Price Shock: antidepressive drug has gone up with 1,100 percent.
In the last two weeks the price of the antidepressive drug Sertraline has increased dramaticallyin Denmark. The Danish Minister of Health is left speechless.
The drug Sertraline produced the pharmaceutical company Hexal used to treat patients with depression, OCD and for anxiety has increased by 1,100 percent in just 14 days.
Until the 13th of November the price for Sertraline was 88 dkk cent (10 cent) per pill, however, since then the price has suddenly risen to 9.71 (11 euro) per pill. A pack of 100 pcs. 50 mg has risen from 90 danish kroner (12 euro) to more than 970 dkk (130 Euro) before state reimbursement, writes the Danish newspaper bt.dk.
Generic products disappeared
According to the Institute for Rational Pharmacotherapy (IRF), who informs GPs about the advantages and disadvantages of different medicines in Denmark, the reason for this drastic price jump is that the generic product for Sertraline is currently out of production. Therefore, pharmacists are forced give out the more expensive drug.
To ensure that patients receive the lowest price on medications, pharmacists are normally obliged to always sell the cheapest version of a drug, which in the case Sertraline from Hexal may be a generic product. The problem for users of Sertraline is that currently only Hexal produces Sertraline, which means that pharmacists are forced to sell the Hexal drug. Therefore, Hexal has accordingly set the price exactly as they want on Sertraline, writes bt.dk
Minister will look at case
Danish Minister for Health , Astrid Krag (SF), is now considering letting the competition authorities look into the matter.
“It is not possible to take action against the company with the laws we have on the Health Affairs area, but if the company Hexal is exploiting its dominant monopoly position on the market, it may be a matter for the competition authorities,” says Astrid Krag to bt.dk