The EGA welcomes the ECJ’s decision that national public health authorities have the legal right to provide incentives to physicians to encourage cost-effective prescribing. We also welcome the ECJ’s restatement that there are clearly no patient health concerns in such incentive schemes since all medicines are constantly reviewed by the medicines agencies. The EGA stresses the importance for European governments to put in place coherent healthcare policies incentivising patients, physicians and pharmacists to use generic medicines in order to ensure affordability and sustainability of healthcare. It is in the interests of all European patients and healthcare systems that prescription decisions should take account of the affordability and cost-effectiveness of different medicines.

Please find the link to the press release of the ECJ here: http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2010-04/cp100038en.pdf