Hong Kong Department of Health: Retail pharmacies are not allowed to sell these two new crown drugs

In response to reports that there are pharmacies in Hong Kong selling oral drugs for the new crown, the spokesperson of the Hong Kong Department of Health emphasized that the two oral drugs for the new crown, Paxlovid from Pfizer and Molnupiravir from Merck in the United States, can only be supplied to public and private medical institutions and doctors. Relevant drugs can only be prescribed on demand by registered doctors, and retail pharmacies cannot purchase from suppliers and sell related oral drugs to the public. | Related reading (The Paper)

So Cheong Yeon

It is said that Pfizer’s special drug for the new crown has become a “hard currency” for gifts from China’s upper class, and it is more popular than Moutai. And on social media, the price of this drug has also been hyped into sky-high prices. The drug that originally cost more than 2,900 yuan was resold by scalpers at five to ten times the price, and it is still hard to find a drug. Therefore, Hong Kong’s restrictions on the sale of this drug in retail pharmacies are also estimated to be related to the possible high price of resale.

The root cause is that the import volume of this drug is too small to meet the demand for medication during the peak period of infection. However, this drug is very expensive, and it will take up a lot of medical insurance funds after being included in the medical insurance. Moreover, doctors have a lot of discretion to decide whether to use it or not, which may create a space for power rent-seeking. , and the possibility of corruption.

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