Portuguese hospitals block access to new medicines as retail drug sector expected to meet savings goal

Access to expensive medicines is becoming increasingly difficult in Portuguese public hospitals, while savings with retail pharmacy expenditure are expected to be better than projections in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) deal signed by the government, according to a research note released its author, Tania Rodrigues, an analyst at IHS Global Insight.

Patient association groups are complaining that the treatment of diseases that involve more expensive medicines is "increasingly becoming more difficult" to access in Portuguese public hospitals. There are hospitals that are refusing or making it harder to access medicines for patients with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis or spondylitis, Arisete Saraiva, president of patient association Platforma Mais Saude told the Sol newspaper.

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