Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1537233
3 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 6 JULY 2025 NEWS medicines with no English information containing a professional translation in English that is stuck to the outside of the box. "But POYC use a legal loophole to im- port medicines in languages other than English because they are probably cheap- er, without adhering to the requirement to fix an additional leaflet on the outside of the box," the pharmacist said. The health ministry has blamed Brex- it for the difficulty to source medicines with patient information in English but told MaltaToday last week that an Eng- lish translation is sent as an email attach- ment to pharmacists and patients who ask for it. But many are unconvinced by the POYC's strategy. Asthma medicine's side effects… in Spanish Another pharmacist pointed out that the inhaler Flixotide, normally pre- scribed to children who suffer from asthma is widely available in pharmacies with English-language labelling. Howev- er, the same product supplied by POYC is imported from Spain and contains a Spanish-only leaflet. "The patient leaflet of the English Flix- otide found in all pharmacies in Malta contains important information on how to prevent serious oral side effects in children because of the chronic corticos- teroid use but this information cannot be accessed in the non-English Flixotide given by POYC," the pharmacist said. This creates an unjust system, where people with means know what they are being given, while those who depend on the free medicine are left to their own devices, they added. "The truth is that we are cutting too many corners in healthcare and it is the patients that suffer," the pharmacist said. Meanwhile, the Nationalist Party said it expected government to stop skimp- ing on medicines following MaltaTo- day's initial report revealing concerns over free ADHD drugs. "It is a well-known fact that in recent years the government has tried to econ- omise on medicines by distributing ge- neric drugs which are often less effec- tive than the specific ones that used to be given previously," PN spokespersons Adrian Delia and Ian Vassallo said. They insisted Maltese law requires that medicines distributed to patients must include all instructions and information in English. They accused the regulatory authori- ties of failing to clamp down on the gov- ernment over patient leaflets that can- not be read. This creates an unjust system, where people with means know what they are being given, while those who depend on the free medicine are left to their own devices