Spanish Pharmaceuticals Spending Seen Slowing

According to Spain's ministry of health, drug spending in the country was 6.4% higher last year than in 2003. However, officials have declared themselves satisfied with the result, noting that expenditure increased by 12.2% in 2003, its highest rate after four years of strong increases.

The government is increasingly trying to halt the rise in drug spending, faced with the generous nature of the social security system and the country's increasingly elderly population. Doctors are now being encouraged to take costs into account when prescribing, and a draft bill imposing a mandatory 4.2% price cut is to be introduced next month.

The measure, the latest in a series of controversial moves bitterly opposed by the drug industry, will affect all products which have been on sale for more than a year. Adding to the drug manufacturing sector's woes, a new drug pricing reference system and an industry tax have also been introduced recently. Nevertheless, despite the cost-cutting moves, the country's drug spending is expected to reach US$17.9bn at consumer prices by 2007.