The controversy of Cathy Barriga's "popular" pharmacy in agreement with large conglomerates

"Salcobrand is one more neighbor," said Maipu Mayor Cathy Barriga this morning, introducing the new project that surrounds the town. It is a "popular" pharmacy whose prices are similar to 38 other initiatives of this nature in the metropolitan area.

"We have a special agreement with Salcobrand in which the map" Beneficios Maipú ", which many neighbors already own and we also invite the community to obtain it, will be able to choose very important reductions ranging from 97%, "said Mauricio Caviglia in the Barriga meeting. Director of the chain of pharmacies, who seek prices equal to or even lower than those of the popular pharmacies.

According to the mayor, the "historic" initiative aims to promote the responsible use of medicines and, therefore, 1300 medicines. that are offered can not be delivered with two requirements. The first and most important is to have the medical prescription of the required medication, in addition to owning the neighborhood card.

So what a joke

However, the idea was not well received in the iconic popular pharmacy. of the community of Recoleta, because of the comparison of the mayor Cathy Barriga with these initiatives.

"There is an agreement on cuts that we do not yet know how it is financed and how this price reduction is achieved," Daniel Moraga told Publimetro. , executive secretary of the Chilean Association of Pharmacy People.

Given the "lack of transparency", Moraga denounces the similarity of the initiative with that of Las Condes. "They are betting to present the complicit actors, if it's a situation similar to that made by Mayor Lavin and I imagine that it's similar because it's his daughter-in-law" he says.

Regarding funding, it is not detailed by the municipality of Maipú. However, Moraga says that before communal pharmacies, the municipality of recoleta granted subsidies to neighbors that cost 300 million pesos a year. "The change was aimed at lowering it with the communal pharmacy and with the operational costs, we saved about 200 million pesos a year, which is quite different from those that were not disclosed in the accounts. or now to Maipú, "he says.

] And the prices?

The biggest benefit of Maipú on Recoleta would be, in this case, the largest variety of drugs available in the drug stock. For example, the drug Zovirax benefits from a 93% reduction with this new agreement in Maipú and, for the inhabitants of the municipality, it pbades from $ 105,699 to only $ 7320. On the other hand, Zorivax is not a cure available in the Recoleta catalog.

In contrast, amoxicillin is cheaper in the popular pharmacy Recoleta which costs 30 dollars, while in Maipú, it amounts to 630 dollars.