Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a federal law authorizing the import into Russia of unregistered medicines that contain narcotic or psychotropic substances to provide medical care to certain patients. The relevant document is published on the official Internet portal of legal information.
“The law establishes the possibility of importing into the Russian Federation a specific batch of unregistered drugs to provide medical care according to the vital indications of a particular patient or group of patients, if there is a decision of the medical commission,” the document explains.
According to this law, which will enter into force on March 1, 2020, the import of unregistered medicines is determined by the government of the Russian Federation.
In this case, the basis for the purchase of such drugs abroad will be the decision of the medical commission of the medical institution that the drugs registered in Russia cannot be used or are ineffective in treating a particular patient. The list of diseases covered by the new norm, as well as the list of drugs will be determined by the authorized executive body.
The issue of unregistered drugs once again drew public attention in the summer of 2019. RT told stories of several parents against whom criminal cases were opened for ordering drugs that were unregistered in Russia for their sick children.
In July, RT talked about Elena Bogolyubova, who was detained while receiving parcels with 400 Frizium tablets in the mail. Her son suffers from an incurable genetic disease - Batten's disease. The child cannot walk, talk, feeds through the gastrostomy, he is constantly tormented by severe convulsions, and Frizium is an anticonvulsant. Moreover, the analogues registered in the Russian Federation, according to the mother, are not so effective, in addition, they cause strong side effects. After the story received a wide public outcry, the case against the woman was closed.
In August, a woman was detained in a Moscow post office who received a parcel with 600 tablets of Frizium, which was necessary for her son with epilepsy. Since the woman did not have a doctor’s prescription or a council’s opinion on the need for the drug, a case was opened about smuggling psychotropic substances, according to which the woman passed as a witness. A few days later, the Prosecutor General's Office canceled the initiation of the case as "illegal and unreasonable."
Such situations have arisen before. In 2018, RT reported on the mother of a sick child, Ekaterina Konnova, in relation to whom a drug case was also opened, as she was going to sell the remains of a drug not registered in the Russian Federation that is effective in epilepsy. Later, the case against her was also closed.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin during a major press conference said that medicines needed to treat rare diseases should be registered, since people should not be deprived of the opportunity to use them.
“The government has now proposed a number of solutions; they have now begun to be implemented. And one of them ... is the registration of new prices for medicines during auctions. This is one of the innovations that should be implemented in the near future. This decision has been made. I already spoke about children's medicines, children's prescription is also included here for the first time, ”Putin said, answering a question from an RT correspondent.
Prior to this, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree on the allocation of funds from the reserve fund for the purchase of medicines for children suffering from chronic diseases. He noted that some forms of necessary drugs are currently produced only abroad, since manufacturers do not register them in Russia.
“Now the problem is being solved: to establish, by the end of 2023, the release of all the necessary forms in our country in order to provide children with the necessary pain medication. Until it is resolved, the following will be done. I signed a government decree on the allocation of money from the reserve fund to purchase the necessary medicines, ”Medvedev said.
He explained that the order gives the Moscow Endocrine Plant the right to quickly purchase and deliver to Russia such drugs as diazepam, phenobarbital, midazolam in 10 dosage forms that are not produced in Russia.
Before they can establish their own production, these drugs will be promptly purchased and imported on a systematic legal basis. “This will provide quality pain relief for children in need. And doctors will be able to prescribe such drugs to patients, ”Medvedev said.