The study aims to assess the impact of restrictions on the purchases of pharmaceuticals that are outside the list of vital and essential drugs (VED) on the availability and quality of medical care for cancer patients in the system of compulsory medical insurance (CMI). Materials and methods. A sociological study was conducted in 2024–2025 using a telephone and online survey of 502 patients with cancer from various regions of the Russian Federation. In addition, it analyzed appeals to the hotline of the Interregional public movement (IPM) “Movement against cancer” and the purchase of drugs that are not included in the VED list for 2024 and 2025. Results. 34.5 % of patients had problems with receiving anticancer therapy, 24.1% - with receiving drugs in the hospital. 70 % of respondents had a need to purchase drugs at their own expense. Among patients who were prescribed therapy with drugs outside the VED list (n = 73), 80 % experienced problems receiving it. During 9 months of 2025, the number of requests for drugs outside the VED list increased by 5 % as compared with the same period in 2024. It was established that individual purchases are associated with long approval periods (from several weeks to months), which is critical for cancer patients. The use of innovative analgesics outside the VED list (for example, tyrosyl-D-arginyl-phenylalanyl-glycine amide) can increase the effectiveness of treatment and reduce the costs of CMI. Conclusion. The current mechanism for purchasing drugs outside the VED list does not provide timely access for patients to the necessary therapy. It is recommended to develop a system of predicted provision of such drugs to improve the quality and accessibility of cancer care.
Margevich et al. (Mon,) studied this question.