In filing Senate Resolution No. 1011, Senator JV Ejercito said the alleged collusion violates several laws including the Republic Act No. 9502 or the Cheaper Medicines Act and the Universal Health Care Law .Ejercito said the UHC Law is intended to protect Filipinos against financial risk and reduce the cost of out-of-pocket health expenses and the alleged scheme “may have contributed to the high out-of-pocket medical expenses, therefore contravening the very intent” of the law.
4 billion of the out-of-pocket expenditures were spent on medicines bought from pharmacies.Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa on Monday reminded the country's health professionals and personnel that accepting gifts from pharmaceutical companies in exchange for a favor is "unethical."This comes amid news reports of drug firms allegedly giving privileges to medical professionals and using multi-level marketing schemes to entice them to advertise and prescribe medical products.