Health minister’s row with SYRIZA over medicines gets heated
A war of words between Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis and SYRIZA over the cost of medicines continued over the weekend as the conservative official rehashed allegations that the leftist opposition party is refusing to back an amendment designed to lower the prices of some drugs because it is serving the interests of pharmaceutical firms.
“I never expected that SYRIZA would be on the side of big multinationals,” Georgiadis told Skai television on Saturday. He added that Sto Kokkino, a SYRIZA-affiliated radio station, was playing advertisements for big pharmaceutical companies.
SYRIZA MP Giorgos Varemenos fended off the accusations saying that the government is trying to deregulate the medicine market using promises of price reductions as a carrot.