Romanian Health Min Says Drugs Could Cost Less

Nicolaescu said he has information regarding certain price reserves, and based on this information, he might choose to change the methodology for the calculation of medicine prices.

"I have several pieces of information saying there are a series of reserves that we did not know about. We are trying to confirm this information and if the information is verified, as I think it will be, then we will indeed bring down medicine prices. I cannot say how much lower prices will be, when and how. But there is such information," Nicolaescu stated.

"These are not stocks of medicine, we are talking about ways to set prices and ways to hide certain profits in prices. And it is there that we can step in as public authority, perhaps even changing the methodology for the calculation of prices," he added.

He said distributors do not have arguments to convince him he needs to boost prices and, if they try to trigger a crisis, the Ministry has “other means of control” for the medicine market.

Nicolaescu said there is always the option of turning towards state owned company Unifarm, which is active in imports and distribution.