On October 30, the Social Security Commission of Deputies passed a bill regulating the supply of oncological medicines by the pharmaceutical industry which establishes that companies must guarantee the supply of essential medicines required for treatment. The text will go to the Constitution Committee, which is expected to debate it in the coming weeks.

The initiative, filed by deputy Federico de Castro (Patriotas – allied with the ruling party), obliges the pharmaceutical industry to guarantee the supply of essential medicines to treat cancer patients according to an annual readjustment. In addition, the text establishes that the production costs of these medicines must be taken into account by the federal government when setting product prices.

Silvia Cristina (Partido Democrático Trabalhista – opposition), the bill’s rapporteur, emphasized the significance of the initiative, as “these are products with no effective therapeutic alternatives.” De Castro argued that laboratories often withdraw medicines from the market “because of price differences caused by government policy, rather than for commercial reasons.”