Venezuela says oil price drop triggers smaller medicine orders

The decline in oil prices has forced Venezuela to place smaller medicine orders and buy cheaper drugs, a state health provider said on Monday, as patient complaints over shortages mount. "We're buying three months of inventories for a medicine. We're working with tighter inventories but guaranteeing the medicine is here in the country," said Carlos Rotondaro, a general who has run the Venezuelan Institute for Social Security (IVSS) for 12 years. It used to make about two major purchases of medicines per year with inventories that lasted eight to 12 months, said Rotondaro, who contacted Reuters in response to news coverage of protests over drug availability. More…