Patient associations warn Romanian PM over drug accessibility

Multiple patient associations in Romania have issued an open letter to interim Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan regarding the real accessibility of medications. The associations are responding to recent statements by the Prime Minister suggesting that the state should prioritize generic or biosimilar drugs over expensive innovative therapies to control costs.

While the organizations acknowledge that comparing costs and supporting generic use is appropriate when drugs are available and indicated, they warn that not all innovative therapies have suitable generic alternatives. They argue that treating medicine access as a simple cost-comparison exercise without clinical and economic analysis can lead to grave consequences for patients.

The letter highlights structural vulnerabilities in the Romanian healthcare system, specifically regarding supply discontinuities and drugs being withdrawn from the market. The associations emphasize that a medication is only useful if it is consistently available in pharmacies and hospitals, stating, “A medication accessible only on paper treats no one.”