DELAYS in Jamaica’s drug registration process are limiting patients’ access to newer medicines while reducing competition that could help lower the Government’s pharmaceutical bill, according to AS Bryden Group CEO Paul Scott.

“This is not new. I have been complaining about this for 15 years. It is an absolute disgrace,” Scott said during Seprod Group’s annual general meeting at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel on Wednesday.

Scott said that Bryden Pi Limited, the group’s pharmaceutical and health-care distribution company in Jamaica, currently has more than 400 molecules awaiting registration with the Ministry of Health and Wellness. Until they are registered or otherwise approved, those medicines cannot be routinely imported, distributed or sold in Jamaica.