Top doctors raised concerns about domestically made drugs, saying Beijing’s effort to lower costs is sacrificing quality.The New York Times reports that top doctors in China have expressed concerns about the quality of domestically made drugs, stating that Beijing’s efforts to lower costs are sacrificing the quality of these medications. This rare display of public anger has sparked discussions about the issue, with some doctors and hospital leaders calling on the government to change its approach to purchasing drugs for public hospitals.
The concerns were brought to light by a prominent Shanghai surgeon who pointed out that some anesthetics do not effectively put patients to sleep, and a respected Beijing cardiologist who questioned the effectiveness of blood pressure medication. Even a former editor at a leading online health platform has accused domestic drugmakers of fraud.
This public scrutiny is unusual in a country where criticism of the government is tightly controlled. However, it serves as a rebuke of Beijing’s campaign to lower medical costs, which has been successful in driving down drug prices through fierce competition between manufacturers. This policy, implemented in 2018, has led to a significant decrease in drug prices. However, this year, foreign-branded drugs were largely excluded from the government’s list of medicines covered by national health insurance and offered at public hospitals.
As a result, many foreign pharmaceutical companies have been pushed out of the market, as they are unable to compete with Chinese companies willing to sell their drugs at extremely low prices. This has raised concerns about the quality and safety of domestically made drugs, and some are calling for a change in the government’s approach to ensure that patients receive high-quality medications.
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