On Regulation Of Medicine Price Difference

Drugs,as a special commercial product with very low flexibility of demand,very asymmetric information,and with monopolized distribution channels by hospitals,its price varies greatly among manufacturers,hospitals,pharmacies.This price difference has gone beyond the normal,reasonable price range of commerial products.This issue has been concerned by people and our government,thus is also the topic of this thesis. Through this research,I aim to contribute to further improvement of the management of medicine by the government.Starting with the excessive difference of the same kinds of drugs,this thesis first reviews the specific policies of price control for drugs in China.Taking Guangzhou as an example,I have investigated the actual price difference of drugs in many hospitals and retail pharmacies in order to analyze the reasons.There are five main reasons leading to the huge disparity of drug prices between hospitals and retail drugstores: the monopoly of hospitals and the competitive market of retail pharmacies; "drugs-support-hospitals" system;too many links in circulation;various purchase channels and operation systems;and the hospitals can provide discriptive drugs while the retail pharmacies cannot.Secondly,by analyzing the China's current management in price control for drugs,this thesis reveals several problems:unreasonable method in drug pricing;difficulty in supervision of drug prices;too many so-called "new medicine" and the serious shortage of financial subsidie.By comparing to the management of drug prices in developed countries,I conclude that the government should execute the following: generally control drug prices,and mainly intervene with the price for prescriptive drugs;focus the price control mainly on the difference between wholesale and retail; form a complete system of drug pricing;associate the pricing with the medical insurance system;and implement different policies for"new medicine".The existence of different prices is closely related to interests of many parties,and inextricably links to the economic system,medical system,medicine production and circulation,social welfare,security system and the market mechanism.This brings more difficulties for the government's management for drug prices.In the last part of this thesis,with reference to the management of drug prices in developed countries, the thesis brings forward ideas and possible countermeasures to solve this problem in China,that is to strengthen the management of medicine in circulation;to introduce competition so as to break the monopoly of the hospital management system' to change "drugs-support-hospitals" medical institutions mechanism for economic compensation to the "hospital-medicine separated" system;as well as to improve drug pricing control.All of these together constitute an integrated system to improve the situation of the excessive price differences.