Medicines Authority defends quality of generic medicines after Alex Borg comment
Authority assures patients of quality of medicines, as Health Minister condemns PN leader
Updated 4.20pm with Labour reaction
The Malta Medicines Authority and the Superintendence of Public Health have jointly defended the quality of generic medicines used in state hospitals.
They were reacting to a remark by Opposition leader Alex Borg on Sunday that a PN government would ensure there were no medicine shortages, and medicines were of good quality, not generics.
“A generic medicine is a medicine that is developed to be the same as a medicine that has already been authorised. A generic medicine contains the same active substances as the reference medicine and is used at the same dose to treat the same disease as the reference medicine," the two bodies said.
"Generic medicines are manufactured according to the same quality standards as all other medicines. Regulatory authorities perform periodic inspections of the manufacturing sites to ensure that good manufacturing practices are in place for all medicines."
They said that generic medicines manufactured in Malta and those available to patients in Malta follow the same EU regulations for quality, safety and efficacy as in all other European Union countries.
"It is important that the general public is not alarmed by any statements which may wrongly infer any inferiority in the quality of generic medicines both those supplied by the Pharmacy-of-Your-Choice scheme and in the private market," they said.
Labour challenges PN to withdraw statement
In a statement, the Labour Party condemned Alex Borg for his comments and said the assurances given by the Medicines Authority and Superintendence of Public Health proved him wrong.
"Generic medicines are effective and manufactured according to established rules and protocols and are widely used in the world's largest countries, including in America, Germany and the UK," it said.
The party urged Alex Borg to withdraw his statement, which it said went against science.
Health Minister Jo Etienne Abela also condemned the PN leader's statement, saying he was sowing fear among patients without any justification.
More than 90 per cent of medicines sold in the USA were generics, the minister said, with similar percentages in the UK and Germany.