The sharp end of the Greek financial crisis

Greece has stopped paying the pharmaceutical companies.  A letter from the local pharmaceutical industry association to the Greek government reads in part: -

In the first quarter of 2011, hospitals and pharmacies purchased medicinal products worth about €70 million, of which only €332 have been paid!  That is not a typing error.

In response a number of the majors are apparently just going to cut off supply of medicines.  Watch out for a proliferation of black market and counterfeit medicines at home as well as wealthier Greek citizens seeking out treatment in other European countries.  I don't know how easy it would be for someone to rock up to an NHS cancer centre and demand access to Herceptin but you can bet that some of the private clinics on Harley Street will see an uptick in business.

Apologies for the blitheness of that last remark but the fact remains: many middle class and poor Greeks will be denied access to a lot of modern drugs.  Whilst this puts them in the same boat as most people world, including lots of poorer Americans, it is at odds with what might be described as a broader European health care ethos.

Not a good time to be one of the 42% of Greek adults who smoke.