CNAS head: Expensive drug consumption has got to 70% of the total

Nicolae Lucian Duta, chairman of the National Health Insurance House (CNAS) managing 4bn-euro funds annually, one of the biggest budgets of a public institution, says that expensive drugs, namely patent drugs, make up 70% of total consumption in Romania, the highest percentage in Europe. “This is an anomaly. We live in a poor country that consumes 70% patent drugs and 30% generic drugs,” Duta told ZF in an interview. Last year, CNAS drug expenses revolved around 3bn RON (0.7m euros). Duta is the first Romanian official raising the question of the high expensive drug consumption, while most health officials had so far spoken about the shortage of funds. Amid the crisis, most European states are struggling to cut healthcare expenditures and are considering steps such as cutting the subsidy level, substituting patent drugs with generics or price reductions.