Filenews 18 February 2026 - by Marilena Panayi
Thousands of patients are called upon to dig deep into their pockets who, after the reclassifications, due to the expiration of the patent (patent), for specific drugs, saw a significant increase in the contribution II they pay during the execution of their prescriptions in the pharmacies of the General Health System.
These are medicines which, although the prices have not changed, have found themselves in a different position, in the category of medicines to which they belong to the GHS lists, as a result, their own contribution to the System is affected.
"In fact, these are the medicines that we call 'me too' and for which at the beginning of the implementation of the GHS a special agreement was made between the Health Insurance Organization and pharmaceutical companies," said the honorary president of the Cyprus Federation of Patients' Associations, Marios Kouloumas, speaking to "F" and explained: "In some categories of medicines, based on the GHS list, there are preparations that are administered for the same condition but do not contain the same medicinal substance. That is, a patient with a specific heart problem can take drug A and another with the problem itself can take drug B. The doctor chooses the most suitable for each patient. Simply put, they are drugs that do the same job but are not the same in terms of their active substance."
Under the system by which contributions are determined, "when a cheaper drug is included in a category of medicines, the patent of an original is usually "broken" and a generic is included, whose price is lower, the patient who received the original, which contains a specific substance, has the option to switch to the generic and not pay a contribution. The problem concerns other drugs that belong to the same category but contain another substance.
Based on the practice agreed in 2019 between the HIO and pharmaceutical companies, the contribution of these drugs, in order to contain the contributions, the amount paid by the patient is determined by the difference between the price of the drug he receives and the original drug that contains another substance but his patent has "broken" and there is now a "generic".
At the moment, said the honorary president of OSAK, "we saw a significant reduction in the price of medicines, whose patent was broken after the companies themselves may have proceeded with a price reduction, in order for patients to remain on their own medicine and not to switch to the generic that joined the GHS and has a zero contribution". This, however, "has a serious impact on those patients who received the original drug that contains another substance, but belongs to the same category, as the difference in their price from the price of the original that lost its patent and, at the same time, its price has decreased significantly, is now very large and in some cases exceeds €20".
Most of the patients are retired
The medicines for which OSAK received complaints, both from patients and doctors, are mainly given to older people, pensioners, many of whom are low-income pensioners who certainly cannot pay more than €20 each month for a single medicine.
"Changing the substance and switching to the cheapest drug of the category to which their own drug belongs, is not a solution that can be accepted. The substance change can deregulate patients and put them at enormous risk. As OSAK, we cannot provide a solution at the moment because these are cases where the companies themselves come and reduce their own prices, which is a good thing, but it affects the contributions of patients who are on another medicine that belongs to their category but contains a different substance. What we are saying is that it is not possible to victimize patients. We therefore call on the HIO and the pharmaceutical companies to enter without delay into an intensive dialogue in which OSAK will also participate in order to resolve this problem."
Discussions have begun with the Health Insurance Organization, says OSAK
The Cyprus Federation of Patients' Associations is closely monitoring the serious consequences for thousands of patients resulting from the recent reclassifications in specific categories of medicines in the General Health System, which are linked to the expiration of patents of some original medicines.
This is stated in a statement by OSAK, confirming that it has recently received complaints from both patients and doctors, as these changes have led to significant increases in the contribution paid for medicines that are administered for a long time, without their price having changed.
The issue, he notes, concerns drugs that belong to the same category and are administered for the same condition, but contain a different active substance. In these cases, the choice of the drug is made by the attending physician and cannot be determined by changes in the contribution resulting from reclassifications in the lists.
Older patients, mainly pensioners and low-income pensioners, are particularly affected, he explains, who are required to pay increased amounts every month for the continuation of their medication, in some cases for a single drug.
It adds that this burden creates a real problem of compliance with treatment and puts patients in a difficult position. And switching them to another drug, which contains another active substance, may put them at risk.
OSAK considers that patients cannot bear the costs of changes resulting from patent expiration, price differentiation and related rearrangements, especially when there is no alternative that can be applied safely and without changing the treatment.
For this reason, OSAK has already started discussions with the Health Insurance Organization on this issue, with the aim of examining solutions for cases where there is an increased burden on patients.
At the same time, it also calls on pharmaceutical companies to enter into a dialogue with OSAK and the HIO, in order to contribute to dealing with the problem.
OSAK expects concrete interventions that prevent costs from being passed on to patients and ensure that no group of patients is disproportionately burdened due to changes in drug lists.
