Health Minister Harris calls for EU to negotiate deals with drug firms

Pharmaceutical firms could be forced to provide life- saving drugs to patients at reasonable prices under a new cross-EU plan suggested by Health Minister Simon Harris.

Mr Harris said he wants all EU countries to join together in future negotiations with drug companies to prevent a repeat of the Orkambi drug crisis.

The HSE and Government said it will not provide the vital cystic fibrosis drug to hundreds of patients whose lives are at risk, due to the €158,000-per-person cost, but Mr Harris said people receiving the medication now will continue to do so as negotiations continue.

The Health Minister believes the stand-off can be ended completely in future if all EU countries negotiate as a group, forcing drug firms to slash costs in return for access to the European market — an issue he plans to raise in a meeting of health ministers in Strasbourg, France, this month.

“There has to be an EU dimension to this,” said Mr Harris. “There is a buying power across Europe that is obviously greater in its totality than one member state.

“I do think there is a capacity for us to work together.”