Highpost Med is at the center of the scandal - reveals the former head

Independent experts document that many drugs prescribed for the treatment of cancer, diabetes and other diseases are not registered in Armenia, so they cannot be sold legally. But these medicines are freely sold in pharmacies or on the black market. And since they are not registered, no state institution checks their effectiveness and safety. For years, doctors have been warning that these drugs are a vital necessity for patients and should be registered and properly inspected to exclude the circulation of fake drugs, but the state is unable to solve the issue.

Artavaz Mazlumyan says that during the inventory held in July 2022, he discovered that illegal, unregistered drugs are actually being circulated through HayPost Med. He presented their list to the management of Highpost Med and informed that 3 of the drugs he bought according to the pharmaceutical agency's list are not registered, but are actually sold with a SRC stamp and the sale took place in the legal tax field.

A cash register receipt was provided for 12 more unregistered medicines, which is absurd. "The actions of the Ministry of Health, the Inspection Body and the SRC show that the control of the drug market is incomplete, the structures do not work in practice, and with their inaction they allow untested drugs to be sold freely," emphasizes Artavaz Mazlumyan. The process of drug registration takes a long time and is expensive, which is why some manufacturers do not apply for drug registration. On the other hand, doctors prescribe the necessary drugs for effective treatment, regardless of the fact that they are registered. If the drug is illegal, sooner or later it appears in circulation, and as a rule, by illegal means: smuggling, unregistered sale, illegal networks. "I can say that drugs enter the country through illegal means and are circulated on the black market," Mazlumyan emphasizes, adding that Haypost Med has actually become one of the participants of the black market.

Speaking about the problem and taking consistent steps to stop the circulation of unregistered drugs created serious problems for Artavazd Mazlumyan, due to which he was dismissed from his job and obliged to keep internal information about HayPost Med for 5 years. A few days ago, we applied to the SRC and asked them to clarify the problems of control over the circulation of unregistered drugs and their actual sale. SRC informed that they will conduct a thematic tax audit and will inform about the results. It is not known in what period