The EU Court of Justice ruled on Thursday that authorities could use financial incentives to encourage doctors to prescribe cheaper substitute drugs. This is the answer to the British court’s question about the compliance of the incentive system there with the EU directive of 2001.
A British court asked the Luxembourg Court whether the prohibition of financial incentives contained in the EU Directive applied to the system applied in England and Wales. The local system prompts doctors to prescribe cheaper replacement drugs (from the same therapeutic category and the same effect) to patients, mainly statins to lower cholesterol levels.
Public administration in England and Wales decided to take such a solution to reduce public spending on drugs. The incentive system is officially prohibited by the EU Medicines for Human Use Directive (2001/83 / EC). It prohibits providing, offering, or promising physicians or pharmacists any benefit in money or in kind when promoting drugs.
In the justification of the judgment, the Court stated that the prohibition referred to in the directive concerns mainly promotional activities of pharmaceutical companies. Its aim is to prevent situations in which doctors bribed by concerns would write out prescriptions in exchange for their own benefits.
However, the prohibition does not apply to authorities whose task is, inter alia, overseeing the expenditure allocated to public health policy, which does not serve any commercial purpose. Thus, administration bodies may decide to promote cheaper substitute drugs if they deem it appropriate from the point of view of public finances. The Court also does not see a potential risk in the use of substitute drugs, justifying that the therapeutic value of the promoted drugs is under constant supervision of public administration.
Karolina Przewrocka (PAP)