Czech health minister fires head of drug control agency

Health minister Leoš Heger (TOP 09) has dismissed Martin Beneš, the head of the State Institute for Drug Control, the country’s chief agency for the testing and approval of pharmaceuticals. Minister Heger explained the firing by citing long-term disagreements over workplace methodology, adding that an open tender process will now take place to find a successor. Deputy Jiří Deml will serve in the top post until a replacement is found. According to ČTK, the firing may be linked to concerns over the functioning of the Institute’s central drug-testing database, administrative issues of data protection and delays in updating the prices of key drugs. According to Lubomír Chudoba, head of the Czech Chamber of Pharmacists, Beneš failed to effectively communicate with his colleagues across the industry. In 2011, the Czech pharmaceutical industry was worth an estimated 58.85 billion crowns.