Unfair to Mercury Drug

There are reports that multinational pharmaceutical firm Pfizer has threatened Mercury Drug Corp. that it would stop supplying Lipitor and that it would file a case in court if the latter insists on selling a generic version of its pricey product. If this is true, then it can be said that Pfizer may have gone too far.

If this story about the alleged Pfizer threat against Mercury Drug is true, then we, Filipinos, have once again been shown the power of Pfizer’s business and political power. If it is true that Mercury Drug has capitulated to the reported Pfizer threat, then sick Filipinos who do not have enough money for their Lipitor requirements will just have to bite their lips and accept this sad reality.

But by most indications, that story about the alleged threat could be true. For one, we don’t think the likes of our fellow Atenean and show business personality Subas Herrero would lie. It was Herrero whom media quoted in an exposé about the alleged threat by Pfizer against the Mercury Drug chain.

If it was Pfizer’s intention to draw a wedge between this much-loved drugstore chain and Filipinos, it may have scored some points. But what for?  Continue reading here http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideOpinion.htm?f=2009/december/9/alvincapino.isx&d=/2009/december/9

My comment:  On a recent visit to Mercury Drug and I asked for a Generic drug instead of the brand name, the clerk said they don't carry it.  Mercury will suffer if they only carry Brand names as people are seeking lower cost alternatives and the Generic Drugstores are growing by leaps and bounds.