![From QSR to QMSR: Meeting FDA’s New Requirements From QSR to QMSR: Meeting FDA’s New Requirements](https://www.fdanews.com/ext/resources/Book-Covers-NEW/From-QSR-to-QMSR-500.png?height=200&t=1714569011&width=200)
Home » FRANCE TO CUT BACK ON OTC REIMBURSEMENT
FRANCE TO CUT BACK ON OTC REIMBURSEMENT
September 15, 2005
Amid plans to shave healthcare spending by EUR3.5bn (US$4.35bn) by 2008, the French government is to remove reimbursement on 350 drugs described as having "low levels of effectiveness." Many of the products -- which had sales of EUR400mn (US$488.74mn) last year -- are subsidised by the government at substantial cost, despite their easy availability as OTC expectorants and herbal remedies.
Naturally, the drugmakers concerned are expected to challenge the plans, on the grounds that the policy will limit public access to healthcare. A review of the case by France's Transparency Commission completed this summer found that 90% of the medicines did not provide "adequate" therapeutic benefits.
Health Minister Xavier Bertrand is expected to have the final say. However, as the plan will account for more than half of the EUR250mn (US$305.63mn) the government hopes to save on this type of drug spending by 2007, Bertrand is likely to find the cuts a tempting option.
Meanwhile, health fund agency CNAM estimates that products of limited efficacy in fact cost the government some EUR619mn (US$756.56mn) in 2004. Overall, reimbursement increased 6.4% to EUR17.5bn (US$21.39bn) last year, but with flat sales volume, hi-tech prescription drugs such as statins accounted for most of the increase. Reimbursement growth levels have cooled to 3.3% since the start of the year, but CNAM notes that France's drugs bill in 2004 was almost twice the size of the country's entire budget for general practice outpatient care in 2004.
KEYWORDS Daily International Pharma Alert
Upcoming Events
-
21Oct