Council urges drug rethink, defends hospitals

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MEDICAL COUNCIL
Council urges drug rethink, defends hospitals
By The Nation 2011-05-06

The Medical Council will today attempt to reverse the exclusion of glucosamine, which is used to treat osteoarthritis of the knee, from the civil service medical plan.

"An official letter will be sent to the ComptrollerGeneral's Department next week explaining the pros and cons of its announcement [on reimbursement for glucosamine], including details on the damage and benefits to patients," Dr Samphan Komrit, secretarygeneral of the Medical Council, said yesterday.

The council also disagreed with the finding by the Department of Special Investigation of irregular spending on medicine at two state hospitals, saying the DSI's probe was exaggerated.

The council had held a meeting among its members, including representatives from several royal medical colleges, to discuss the appropriate approach for prescriptions. The meeting resolved to ask the ComptrollerGeneral's Department to revise its announcement that prohibited civil servants from receiving glucosamine under their medical benefit scheme.

Dr Saranet Vaikakul, president of the Royal College of Orthopaedic Surgeons of Thailand, said the report that the department had used to decide to control the budget of the civil service medical plan, especially for glucosamine and three other drugs, was out of date, as it was based on a study made in 2002.

"The researcher who conducted this study was not a specialist. It should not be used as a reference for decisionmaking," he said.

Regarding the DSI's probe into the soaring cost of medicine under the plan, Dr Somsak Lohlekha of the Medical Council said the DSI's inquiry did not come up with a clear conclusion that these two hospitals were involved in suspicious activities.

"The DSI's investigation has already ruined the reputation of these two hospitals and this is unfair," he said.