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When the coronavirus spread through Sweden, the number of patients in the country’s intensive care units increased dramatically. Severely ill patients with covid were anesthetized, which meant heavy consumption of propofol, the most common anesthetic drug in Swedish healthcare.
When the situation was worst in hospitals in the Stockholm Region, a normal monthly consumption could be consumed in a day or two. With a similar situation in much of the world, the drug quickly became a global shortage and prices soared in some places.
The Stockholm region’s request for compensation for the additional costs during the pandemic, which was recently sent to the National Board of Health and Welfare, claims that they have made “a very large purchase at a very high price” of Propofol.
This is just under 110,000 packaging purchased between the end of March and June included for a total of SEK 45.4 million. This is a 236 percent price increase from SEK 13.5 million that would have cost the same amount at the normal purchase price.
– What happened during the month of March was that prices rose sharply due to a large increase in demand at the same time that the supply was limited and the states introduced trade barriers. This led to price increases in many product areas, in some cases well above our normal agreed prices, says Magnus Thyberg, department head of the Stockholm Region health and medical care administration.
Magnus Thyberg, Head of Department of the Stockholm Health Care and Health Administration.
Photo: Anna Molander / SLL
Says the provider that the region generally buys Propofol was unable to meet the growing need and therefore had to turn elsewhere.
– When we buy in the normal case, we have competitive bidding and bidding. But in this situation, we used all the contacts we had, we called the companies that existed and said that we had an urgent need for this product.
How did you reason about the high prices?
– We always do an assessment of medical priority and profitability, although in this case it was very fast. This is a product that was instrumental in treating our most seriously ill patients and there were really no alternatives available. What would happen if we didn’t have access to medicine would be very bad for patients; He made us judge that the prices were reasonable.
If certain pharmaceutical companies took advantage of the market situation to raise prices, Magnus Thyberg does not want to speculate. You indicate that you are satisfied with the relationship with the suppliers.
– I think the collaboration with all vendors worked fantastically well. They went out of their way to provide us with medication.
You have no doubt that there were real additional costs.
– It was about different volumes, they had to hire distributors in other ways and I think several producers did the production. In the companies things that cost a lot to get as much as possible were done during the period.
After a difficult period in the spring, the drug stocks at Regions Stockholm are once again well stocked.
Photo: Magnus Hallgren
The Västra Götaland region is the region that has been most affected by the corona pandemic, both in terms of the number of confirmed cases and VAT admissions. They have also increased their purchases of propofol in 2020, but not to the same extent as the Stockholm Region. Between March and August, they bought just under 18,000 packages, compared to just over 10,000 during the same period last year.
They are not exceptionally high prices either, according to Marie Rasmusson, head of the regional Pharmacy and Health Aids area.
– There are no surcharges. They’re pretty much in line with normal prices, he says.
However, more expensive offers have not been lacking.
– We have received offers for very high prices that we have not taken advantage of. The feeling has been that these are slightly less serious companies, companies that we have never really heard of. In my experience, established companies have been very helpful.
DN has previously reported on the very high prices of a variety of vital products, including protective suits, visors and isopropyl alcohol, during the pandemic. In April, one of the main providers of hygiene and cleaning products in the state called “Force Majeure” against the framework agreements in force and raised prices by up to 900 percent. The State Purchasing Center, which coordinates state framework agreements, accepted the increase.
In a press release, the company announced that it was due to a sharp increase in costs:
“The price adjustment is not done to make more money, but to cover the higher costs of our suppliers and to cover the costs that have been added when we now look for ways to obtain larger deliveries, which our customers are crying out for.”
During the period February-August Municipalities and regions of the country have had additional costs of just over SEK 195 million for medicines alone, according to government grant applications to the National Board of Health and Welfare. The share of the Stockholm region exceeds SEK 92 million. Magnus Thyberg hopes they get the money back.
– We see very clearly that these are additional costs for covid-19.
He says that the drug stock is now well supplied, but the situation has not yet normalized as there are still disruptions in delivery, but not in Propofol.
– But the situation is now significantly better than in the spring and, since mid-May, prices have started to gradually decline towards more normal levels, says Magnus Thyberg.
Read more:
Increase the price of vital products by more than 900 percent.
Therefore, there are no drug stocks in the crown crisis Sweden
