Behind the lack of protamine sulfate, a life-saving drug used in heart operations, lies a problematic link between pharmaceutical firms and the government's supervision of the industry.

This drug's short supply has delayed and even halted operations in many hospitals nationwide over the past several months. Intervention by the State Food and Drug Administration has caused production to resume and the supply will soon meet hospitals' needs.

But the root cause of the crisis has not yet been addressed. An investigation has found that the drug's price has remained unchanged for many years and it is hardly profitable for drugmakers to produce it. Of the three manufacturers with the license to make it, only one still is.

The same thing has happened to a number of cheap but effective drugs. Once a drug is no longer profitable, companies will stop production. As a result, whenever the government lowers the prices of a drug with a view to lowering healthcare bills, the cheaper drug will disappear from the market and be replaced by an expensive substitute.

It seems that the drug makers are playing hide-and-seek with the government, and the former is always cunning enough to avoid being caught.

As the game continues, it is little wonder that healthcare bills have remained high despite government efforts. The government's good intentions always fail to bring real benefit to patients, and medical bills turn out to be even higher because the new drugs are much more expensive.

This crisis should be a reminder that the related government departments must do a better job setting up a system to monitor drug costs and a panel of experts to make the right decisions on the prices of indispensable drugs.

And there should be transparency about the production costs of some drugs to make it impossible for companies to raise prices unreasonably.

If the expert panel knows the cost of most drugs and is clear about the profit margin manufacturers may make, the government will have a handle on adjusting prices and have the right to penalize firms that unreasonably raise prices or refuse to produce the drugs that are imperative for certain health conditions but are not as profitable as some others.

The lesson from this crisis is that the willingness on the part of the government to decrease drug prices in favor of patients is not enough. A lot of work has to be done before it can keep drug prices reasonably low and make sure the much-needed drugs, however cheap they are, be in full stock.

Moreover, the authorities should also make it impossible for manufacturers and distributors to play tricks to maximize profits at the expense of the majority of patients.

(China Daily 09/19/2011 page8)