THE Spanish government has this
week passed new legislation which
requires doctors to prescribe
medicines by their generic name
rather than by brand.
Prime Minister Jose Luis
Rodriguez Zapatero said the bill
aimed to save the government €2.4
billion (A$3.5b) a year.
Scripts must be written with only
the active ingredients of the
medicine, and pharmacies will be
required to provide the cheapest
available versions of each
medication.
The change only affects drugs
which are out of patent, but also
makes it illegal for doctors to even
tell patients what the originator
brand name for their prescription is.
“The interests of the big drugs
companies must give way to public
interest, and what matters is
reducing the deficit and lowering
the drugs bill for millions of people
who use public health services,”
said Josu Erkoreka from the Basque
Party, which backed the legislation.The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 26 Aug 11 To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 26 Aug 11
THE stark health inequalities between Australians living in regional and metro areas have been highlighted in a new report from The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS).
AN “AI explosion” is sweeping Australia’s healthcare sector, signalling the arrival of an “extraordinary era of medicine”, according to a new report from CSIRO.
THE Australian and New Zealand College of Advanced Pharmacy (ANZCAP) has celebrated the 1,000th pharmacist to complete its pharmacy recognition program (PD 24 Nov 2023).
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