By DAVE SUAN ALBARADO
A probe by the Sanguniang Panlalawigan Committee on Health and Public Sanitation revealed that four district hospitals in Bohol province received overpriced and expired medicines worth P1.8 million pesos.
The committee, headed by Board Member Romulo Cepedoza, president of Liga ng Barangay Bohol Chapter, and joined by Board Members Elpidio Bonita and Gloria Gementiza, summoned the pharmacists and hospital chiefs of Garcia Memorial Provincial Hospital (GMPH) in Talibon, Teodoro B. Galagar District Hospital (TBGDH) in Jagna, Cong. Simeon G. Toribio Memorial Hospital (CSGTMH) in Carmen, and Catigbian District Hospital (CDH) in Catigbian for the inquiry.
The investigation showed that the drugs were marked up by more than 3,000 percent from their original price based on the Department of Health’s (DOH) Drug Price Reference Index (DPRI).
The Commission on Audit (COA) report also indicated that some drugs in the top 10 cost of the Project Procurement Management Plan (PPMP) were much higher than the DPRI cost.
For instance, a drug that costs 6 pesos in the DPRI was priced at 2,620 pesos in the PPMP for the Catigbian hospital, a 3,478% increase.
Similarly, a drug that costs 40 pesos in the DPRI was sold at more than 1,000 pesos in the PPMP for the Carmen hospital, a 1,192% increase.
The Talibon hospital paid 1,924 pesos for a drug that costs 36 pesos in the DPRI, a 1,120% increase.
The Jagna hospital bought a drug that costs 13 pesos in the DPRI for 1,428 pesos in the PPMP, a 767% increase.
The four hospital representatives claimed that they had no control over the drug prices and that they had to accept what was given to them.
They pointed to the Provincial Procurement and Management Unit (PPMU) in the capitol as the one responsible for inflating the drug prices from the DPRI.
PPMU justified the price hike by saying that the drugs were too cheap and that the suppliers were not willing to supply them.
The four hospitals also gave similar explanations for why the medicines expired.
They said that the supply was excessive, the demand was low due to the covid19 pandemic, and the medicines were expensive and not frequently used by their patients.
The expired medicines amounted to P1.8 million pesos of wasted funds, broken down as follows: P985,195.93 for TBGDH; P453,233.17 for CDH; P400,155.19 for CSTGMH, and P6,540.23 for GMPH.
The committee on health will continue its investigation and invite all the pharmacists of the 10 district hospitals and the PPMU personnel to the next hearing.