2024-09-23 18:38:26
The Investigations Directorate of the Delegation for the Control and Verification of Technical Regulations and Legal Metrology, imposed in the first instance sanctions amounting to the sum of $339 million, to the company Clínica de la Costa SAS. The above, for failing to comply, in its capacity as IPS, with Circular 12 of 2021, issued by the National Commission on Prices of Medicines and Medical Devices, which established maximum sales prices for some medicines sold in the country.
The SIC’s decision was adopted after having officially requested billing information from this company, issued during the validity of Circular 12 of 2021. After cross-referencing this data with the commercial operations carried out by the IPS, it was found that it sold 15 medicines in different presentations, at prices that exceeded the maximums set by the National Government.
The drugs sold above regulated prices are used in treatments for epilepsy, lung cancer, severe infections, leukemia, schizophrenia, among others.
In this regard, the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce has emphasized that the direct price control regime for medicines and medical devices is an essential measure adopted by the National Government to ensure that public resources allocated to the health sector are used efficiently and that medicines and medical devices are available at fair and accessible prices for the entire population, in order to guarantee effective protection of fundamental rights such as health and life.
Similarly, the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce ‘punished’ Clínica Uros SAS for violating the price control regime for medicines and medical devices by selling medicated Coronary Stents above the maximum price set.