Health C.E.O. Peter Allen downplays Contreras’ powers

As we told you, Contreras is now authorized to approve the entry of pharmaceuticals through Customs. That has raised all sorts of unpleasant speculation. Minister Erwin Contreras is considered a heavy player in Benque Viejo and bordering Guatemala, and his daughter’s new-found authority even before her post is confirmed has raised eyebrows. Today, Ministry of Health C.E.O. tried to dismiss the new powers as just an accounting and finance thing – absolutely nothing to do with pharmaceuticals or the Ministry of Health. But did he?

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Peter Allen, C.E.O., Ministry of Health

Peter Allen

“The point of signature here has nothing to do with the inspection of a pharmaceutical item or a medical supply. It’s essentially an accounting process, and the final arbiter isn’t the Ministry of Health, its Customs. These are not forms to say yes these products are a good quality product or no this product is not a good quality product. These are forms to say are these items being brought in under a government contract and therefore exempt from tax, or are these items being brought in outside of a government contract and therefore may be subject to tax, and if they are subject to tax, what is the tax that is liable on these items. So it’s not actually an issue for the Ministry of Health, more for the Ministry of Finance.”

Michael Pitts

Michael Pitts, Director of Health Services

“For pharmaceuticals you have to scrutinize them for several things. In the environment it’s not just a financial matter…there’s a financial part and there’s a technical part. I imagine it’s the same way if you’re bringing in a motor vehicle…eventually if you’re going through Customs you’ll come up to some taxation issue, but you would have to do some verification of the vehicle. Similarly with pharmaceuticals, you have to verify that it’s the right drug, that it’s the quality drug, that there are no controlled drugs that are coming in without permits, etc…things that the Chief Pharmacist would do. My position is that I trust in the Chief Pharmacist to guide me through that process and in terms of dealing with pharmaceuticals I get the technical advice and direction from the Chief Pharmacist. She has a lot of experience, strong position in terms of rules and regulations and I think it has served us well. Anything that departs from that could open the gates for different things.”