Cesar Hernandez.
This has been ratified by the Council of Ministers this Tuesday, which puts Hernández at the head of the portfolio that to date was directed by Patricia Lacruz, who is now leaving office for “personal motives”according to sources from the Ministry of Health to Medical Writing.
Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery at the Complutense University of Madrid (1987), Hernandez is a Doctor of Medicine from the same University (1996), In addition to being a specialist in Rheumatology at the San Carlos Clinical Hospital in Madrid.
His work activity has been carried out at the San Carlos Clinical Hospital in Madrid, carrying out care, teaching and research work in the area of rheumatology. For three years (2002-2005) he held the position of Deputy Medical Director at this Center. Since 2009 he works at the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Productsholding the position of head of the Department of Medicines for Human Use.
Resignation of Patricia Lacruz for “personal reasons”
Lacruz came to office in 2018 at the hands of the former Minister of Health, Carmen Monton and since then he has remained in office with the different ministers that the Government of Pedro Sánchez has appointed after the dismissal of Montón (Maria Luisa Carcedo, Salvador Illa and Carolina Darias).
Likewise, during these four years, the already former director of the Common Portfolio of Services of the SNS has launched several outstanding reforms in the pharmaceutical sector, such as the therapeutic positioning reports (IPT), the Valtermed system, the start of therapies advanced and approval of first CART. It also had an important relevance in the management of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Precisely, Patricia Lacruz is currently being investigated by a court in Madrid, along with two other high-ranking charges for crimes of prevarication, embezzlement of public funds and fraud, allegedly committed in the process of awarding the emergency contracts processed by the Administration plant in the first state of alarm. The proceedings were opened a year ago, but had not transpired until now.
From 2015 to 2018, she held the position of General Director of Pharmacy and Health Products of the Ministry of Universal Health and Public Health of the Generalitat of the Valencian Community, which was led by Montón itself. Before, she went through several positions of health responsibility in the Valencian autonomy.
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