MOSCOW, October 1 (RAPSI) – A group of senators and lawmakers of Russia’s parliament from the United Russia political party has prepared amendments aimed to improve the national system of medicine provision, according to Andrey Isayev, the head of the mixed deputy group working on this topic.

The changes are to be introduced with respect to the imports of narcotic-based and psychoactive medicines to the Russian Federation on the condition a medical panel says a patient needs such drugs not available in the country. The amendments are developed so to be discussed at the second reading stage of a law on interchangeability of medicines.

The cases to be covered by the amended procedure include patients with idiosyncrasy of nationally registered medicines, or children with idiosyncrasy of needle administration of drugs where those administered in other ways are not available in Russia, Isayev observes.

The final word as to the need of an imported drug is to be with medical panels formed by administrations of medical establishments when informed by the staff that the medicines available in the country are not suitable for this or that patient, but there are foreign drugs fit for the purpose. If a panel takes a favorable decision, it is for the Health Ministry and an authorized agency to purchase and bring to Russia the requested medicine, according to the head of the mixed deputy group.

The parliamentarian has also stressed the necessity to register foreign medicines in the Russian Federation citing differences in approaches to permitted and banned drugs across countries. Therefore, Isayev notes, Russia’s health care authorities need to study drugs in the process of registration to find out if they are suitable for import.

Moreover, certain amendments to the national Civil Code have been developed permitting in urgent cases the authorities to purchase some medicines without consent of right holders, who are to be compensated later.