Pharmacists must prefer cheaper medicine

Pharmacists must prefer cheaper medicine

05/28/2014

According to a ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court, pharmacists are obliged to always offer a low-cost alternative to a prescribed drug. If this does not happen, the statutory health insurance companies do not have to reimburse them.

Pharmacists have to hand out cheap alternative
If pharmacists have not given patients a low-cost alternative to a prescribed drug, the statutory health insurance funds may cancel their compensation. This is apparent from a judgment (file number: 1 BvR 3571/13 and 3572/13) of the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe. The judges had on Tuesday dismissed a complaint from two pharmacists against the scheme, as they have no chance of success. The reasons stated it among other things: „If the contractor has prescribed a medicinal product only under its active ingredient name or does not rule out the substitution of a finished medicinal product prescribed under its product name by a medicinal product, the pharmacy shall deliver and calculate a finished medicinal product in accordance with paragraphs 2 to 4.“

Doctors prescribe only the active ingredient
The two pharmacists had complained that the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) had not paid them two medications. The health insurance company had its decision with the so-called aut-idem regulation - the Latin term stands for the German expression „or the same thing“ justifies how „Mirror online“ writes. This regulation provides that physicians prescribe only the active substance, but not a specific preparation from a specific manufacturer. The pharmacy must then choose a cheap drug and hold it to discount contracts that can be negotiated by the health insurance with pharmaceutical companies. In this case, the active ingredient, strength and pack size must be identical. An exception exists only if the doctor crosses the prescription expressly insists that only the drug he is allowed to be delivered.

Apothekerverband regrets the verdict
In this particular case, the pharmacists had not complied with the regulation once in 2007 and therefore the health insurance fund did not compensate them for the amounts claimed amounting to € 17.49 and € 47.08 for the settlement. But even if the pharmacists saw in it a violation of their professional freedom, the judges ruled that such a violation of fundamental rights was not recognizable. The pharmacists had already failed with their complaints at the Federal Social Court. The German Association of Pharmacists (DAV) regrets the decision of the court. DAV Chairman Fritz Becker said: „We must accept and respect a decision of the highest German court.“ But if the pharmacist had advised the patient, given him a medicine and provided him with the correct pharmaceuticals, he should not be punished for it, according to Becker.

Generic usually much cheaper
Drug-like copies of a drug already on the market under a brand name are referred to as generic drugs. These generic drugs are usually cheaper than the first-line drug because there are no research costs and the cost of developing a generic drug is relatively low. In 2004, the Stiftung Warentest found in an investigation that the prices for generic drugs are sometimes only one third of the original preparation. (Sb)