The New Guyana Pharmaceutical Corporation yesterday called on the Audit Office to carry out a ‘Value for Money” audit to determine if the Ministry of Health received value for purchases from the company.
In a statement, New GPC CEO Dr Ranjisinghi Ramroop said that the call is in the wake of queries of pricing disparities of drugs supplied by the company as against those that other local companies sell highlighted in reports in the Kaieteur News newspaper.
“The company is therefore calling on the [Auditor General] to carry out the audit to determine if [Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation] receives value for money based on the criteria and other established benchmarks as set out in the prequalification process, to set the record straight and let the general public be aware of the truths as against the untruths that are being peddled by certain sections of the media,” the statement said yesterday. It added that New GPC will not “sit quietly while certain media houses slander its image and prevent its continued drive to provide excellent service to the people of Guyana and the international market.”
Included in the newspaper’s reports was that New GPC sells the cream Ketoconazole at $1,909 although it could be purchased for as low as $80.
Asked to explain the disparity, Ramroop said that it was unfair to single out items from a list on the invoice and make sole reference to local pricing as when procured the company might not have had to supply a per item quote. He added that a number of factors, such as shipping and storage, for sometimes as long as one year, also have to be taken into consideration. He said that certain drugs required certain temperatures for storage and that his company was the only one in the Caribbean capable of storing the large amount of drugs needed by organisations such as the Ministry of Health.
Further, he said that some drugs would be sold at more expensive prices, depending on if they were generic brands or original. He added that contrary to what many believe—that the Ministry of Health only purchases generic drugs—there were some such as anaesthetics that require original brands.
Ramroop added that his company should not be blamed if a drug is bought at a high price as when New GPC responds to procurement ads, it submits its bid and leaves the rest to the procuring entity. “You cannot blame the New GPC for pricing. We price our drugs. It is up to the buyers to buy it or not,” he said.
In the company statement yesterday, it was noted that New GPC was among certain companies that successfully responded to an advertisement published on the government’s e-procure website on October 21, 2010 for pre-qualification to supply pharmaceuticals to the Georgetown Hospital.