After years of buying adalat to control hypertension, Beijing woman Sophie Chen began to notice that drugs produced by German pharmaceutical company Bayer are gradually disappearing from Chinese public hospitals since 2023. I did.
Recently, doctors only cost 4.27 yuan (59 USD cents) per box, as opposed to the original branded drug price of 20 yuan (2.75 USD).
However, Chen said he has noticed more side effects since taking generics. With Adalat, I was able to achieve 70 beats per minute, coupled with another drug that helps lower my heart rate. She added that she is now 80 or 90 years old.
Chen said he is considering other options, including the possibility of paying branded medication from his own pocket at a local pharmacy. “I'm fine with generics, but what if it doesn't work well in controlling my blood pressure? That's fatal for me.”
Her experience summarises the controversy over Chinese drug sourcing reforms.
Since 2018, there have been several rounds recently in December, which have led to very low prices for medications containing less than a cent of aspirin per tablet.
