[dailyarchive/2004_10/exchange_rates.htm]
Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, October 14, 2004
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| IT'S SHOWTIME: The Little Theatre Group's actors Susan Liang and Harry Towne perform in “The Cemetery Club” at the Blanche Brown Theatre in Escazú. Shows were cancelled last Saturday and Sunday because Towne, the male lead, became ill. This weekend's performances are confirmed: Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. It is also showing Oct. 22-23, at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 24, at 2:30 p.m. For reservations, call 355-1623. |
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State Asked to Require
Better Tests for Generic Drugs
Central American drug industry officials yesterday called on the Costa Rican government to demand more rigorous tests for generic medicines, after the daily La Nación reported Monday that three people with mechanical valves in their hearts died last year and one suffered severe complications after taking a defective medicine for blood clots.
(Click for more)
Legislative Assembly Considers
Extending Punishment for
Offering Bribes
Businesses discovered to have offered gifts to public officials involved in contract negotiations would be prevented from providing products or services to the state for up to ten years, rather than the current five years, under an initiative proposed by congressman Bernal Jiménez, of the National Liberation Party (PLN).
(Click for more)
Legislators Suggest Breaking
Ties
With Taiwan for
Questionable Donations
Officials of two political parties in opposition to the ruling Social Christian Unity Party demanded explanations from Taiwan and even spoke of breaking diplomatic ties after the media reported the government of Taiwan transferred $1.4 million to Miguel Angel Rodríguez while he was President.
(Click for more)
October 14
Tax Workshop
The Costa Rican Chamber of Commerce is holding a workshop today on how to file income taxes, from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Info: 221-0005, ext 112.
Political Satire
The Alquimista Theater Group and the National Dance Company present a play that narrates the current political crisis in Costa Rica using characters from a classic Shakespearean tragedy. “Macbeth's Witches” will be performed Thursday through Sunday at 8 p.m. through Oct. 31, at the Teatro 1887, in the National Culture Center. Info: 222-2974.
Edited By Robert Goodier
Tico Times Staff
rgoodier@ticotimes.net
State Asked to Require
Better Tests for Generic Drugs
By Robert Goodier
Tico Times Staff
rgoodier@ticotimes.net
Central American drug industry officials yesterday called on the Costa Rican government to demand more rigorous tests for generic medicines, after the daily La Nación reported Monday that three people with mechanical valves in their hearts died last year and one suffered severe complications after taking a defective medicine for blood clots.
Dr. Rodolfo Lambour, president of the Central American Federation of Pharmaceutical Laboratories (FEDFARMA), suggested the government publish and enforce a decree that requires generic drug manufacturers to submit their products to bio-equivalency tests. The tests would ensure the medicine performs the same way as the original versions.
Lambour said Costa Rica already has good laws in place, but must put them into effect and expand the list of drugs that require tests. Seven drugs are now on that list, he said, but because the decree regulating the law has not been published, those seven are not tested.
He also denounced the Social Security System (Caja), which provides health care for most Costa Ricans, for allegedly letting price dictate its purchases to the exclusion of quality.
“A lack of resources should not justify the purchase of medicines of poor quality,” Lambour said.
He emphasized that generic drug laboratories should pay for the tests, thus it would not be an added expense for the state.
FEDEFARMA represents many multinational pharmaceutical companies, including giants such as Bayer, Pfizer, and Bristol-Meyers Squibb, most of which produce original drugs, not generic versions. However, Lambour said, “We have nothing against the concept of generic medicine,” and stressed that generics are legitimate, less-costly alternatives – when they are tested properly.
The risk to patients is real when generic drugs are not tested properly, he said, and listed a variety of generic medicines, from antibiotics and epilepsy treatments to Viagra knock-offs and anti-cholesterol medicine on the market, that he said did not pass equivalency tests and thus present health risks.
On Tuesday, Alberto Sáenz, executive president of the Caja, said the institution would investigate to determine if the pills were responsible for the three deaths. Al Día reported yesterday some family members of the deceased are planning to sue the Caja and those who decided to buy the pills.
Legislative Assembly Considers
Extending Punishment for Offering Bribes
By Katherine Stanley
Tico Times Staff
kstanley@ticotimes.net
Businesses discovered to have offered gifts to public officials involved in contract negotiations would be prevented from providing products or services to the state for up to ten years, rather than the current five years, under an initiative proposed by congressman Bernal Jiménez, of the National Liberation Party (PLN).
Legislative Assembly members yesterday voted unanimously to exempt the initiative from standard legislative procedures in order to bring it to a vote more quickly.
“It's a little amendment, but very important,” Jiménez, a member of the National Liberation Party (PLN), told The Tico Times. “A company that comes here should know that bribery is a crime.”
Current legislation allows for two to five years of sanctions under article 100 of the Administrative Contracting Law, if it can be proved the company in question offered gifts to officials.
Jiménez said that without the vote to put the initiative on the “fast track,” the initiative probably would have taken up to two or three years to become law, but now he expects it to reach a vote within a month.
At least 38 of the 57 legislators must vote in favor for the initiative to pass. Such support seems likely, given the Tuesday's unanimous vote.
However, legislator Federico Malavassi, of the Libertarian Movement Party, told La Nación Tuesday that he is concerned such lengthy sanctions could impede Costa Rica's technological development.
Legislators Suggest Breaking Ties
With Taiwan for Questionable Donations
Officials of two political parties in opposition to the ruling Social Christian Unity Party demanded explanations from Taiwan and even spoke of breaking diplomatic ties after the media reported the government of Taiwan transferred $1.4 million to Miguel Angel Rodríguez while he was President.
On Tuesday night, Costa Rica's Channel 7 TV News reported the funds were transferred between 1999 to 2002 to a business in Panama owned by Rodríguez, who has announced he will step down Friday from his post as Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) because of corruption allegations related to a government telecommunications contract.
Ottón Solís, head of the Citizen Action Party, said, “Costa Rica must contact its ambassador in Taiwan immediately and suspend diplomatic relations until this situation becomes clear.”
José Miguel Villalobos, former Justice Minister for Abel Pacheco's government, who now directs the National Democratic Action Party, pronounced himself in favor of an “energetic protest against Taiwan; because if anything remains for Costa Ricans, it is our dignity.”
Taiwan allegedly gave not only $1.4 million to Rodríguez for unknown reasons, but Taiwanese businesses also reportedly had donated half a million dollars to President Pacheco's electoral campaign in 2002.
The new accusation against Taiwan rises amidst of a wave of indignation for alleged acts of corruption involving Rodríguez, as well as former Costa Rican president Rafael Angel Calderón, who has been linked to a corruption scandal in the Social Security System (Caja). The President and two former Presidents are all from the same political party, the Social Christian Unity Party.
“No one asked me for anything in exchange for that money. They wanted me to be President,” Pacheco said on Wednesday. He insisted he would not break ties with Taiwan.
Ecological organizations have accused Pacheco's government of “shutting its eyes” to the exploitation of Costa Rica's marine fauna (mainly tuna and sharks) by Taiwanese ships, in exchange for the money and assistance.
– AFP
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