Italian Minister, Industry Clash Over Drug Cuts

Italian Health Minister Rosy Bindi has challenged pharmaceutical companies' allegations that the recent budget reductions will produce an increase in state health care and pharmaceutical expenditures, and has also declared as untrue the industry claim that the cuts will mean that three out of four drug specialties now provided free will no longer be totally free to patients.

"We are simply transferring some medicines that are not considered essential to the C class (fully paid for by patients)," the minister told a parliamentary committee. "This is in order to free resources that can then be used for innovative drugs."

Last month the chairman and top officials of Italy's drug industry association, Farmindustria, resigned in protest against the new spending cuts, which are aimed at containing the state budget deficit within the planned 109,400 billion lire ($71.20 billion) ceiling in 1996. Farmindustria chairman Federico Nazzari announced that the association is "meeting on a permanent basis," and called a special meeting "to cope with the emergency" and to decide how to fight the budget cuts, which it defines as "unjust."