Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices

As part of a sustained and long-lasting campaign, EPHA, BEUC and AIM have called for a European Commission that deals with pharmaceutical policy as part of health policy and not industry policy. This move follows on from a press release sent out by a coalition of stakeholders on 16 June 2009 that congratulated Ministers on their work on the Information to Patients part of the Pharmaceutical Package and calls for a policy transfer.
The process defining the composition of the new European (...)

On 7 May 2009, MEP Hiltrud Breyer (Greens/Germany) submitted a written question to the European Commission on EU funding for complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). The question is very timely inquiry and comes at a moment when the Commission seems to have begun taking into account CAM in its research projects following years of inaction.
“Over 100 million people in the EU use alternative and complementary medicine — and the figure is rising. The great importance of (...)

The World Health Organization, in cooperation with the European Commission and supported by the ECDC, held the Fourth European Immunisation Week between 20 and 26 April 2009. The week was aimed at raising awareness among policy makers and the public about the need for greater immunisation coverage across Europe.
The stated goals of the week where :
1. To raise public awareness and highlight the benefits of immunisation ;
2. To support national immunisation systems ; and
3. To provide a (...)

With a recently finished European Commission project on Health Technology Assessment (HTA) and a Directive from the Commission that promotes greater cooperation in the field, HTA is a hot topic at the moment. However, governments have been using HTA for years, they provide the basis of decision-making processes about new health technologies. So what is HTA and why have they become the focus of so much attention ?
What is a Health Technology Assessment ?
"Health technology assessment (HTA) is (...)

February 2009 Gunther Verheugen addresses Parliament
On Tuesday 17 February 2009, Gunther Verheugen, European Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry, addressed the European Parliament’s Environment, Pubic Health and Food Safety Committee. In his 45-minute speech, Mr Verheugen gave an overview of all the DG Enterprise measures currently being discussed in the Parliament at the moment.
The Commissioner talked at length on the Pharmaceutical Package. He said that the pharmaceutical industry (...)

The preliminary report from DG Competition’s Sector Inquiry into the pharmaceutical industry was presented on 28 November 2008. EPHA responded to DG Competition’s call for comments on the report.
The Pharmaceutical Sector Inquiry was launched by Commissioner Neelie Kroes on 15 January 2008 in order to determine the reasons why so few novel medicines were being brought onto the market, [generic medicine] entry is sometimes delayed and the sector is generally not working well.
The (...)

eHealth, a concept under development. eHealth holds the potential to help patients, assist health professionals and to ensure smooth running of health systems. However, it is marred by problems that are holding back its development. EPHA’s Briefing discusses what eHealth has to offer and how it is being developed in Europe.
Imagine a Europe where prescriptions are never confused, where a shortage of Radiographers in Norway is not a problem because the X-rays can be read in Spain. Imagine a (...)

This article has been updated with a recent press release signed by Health Action International (HAI), the International Society of Drug Bulletins (ISDB), and the Medicines in Europe Forum (MiEF) (attached).
In order to re-launch the debate on Pharmaceutical issues and on information to patients, the European Commission has set up the Pharmaceutical Forum, which proves to be very unbalanced and non-transparent.
The Pharmaceutical Forum was jointly established by Vice President Verheugen (...)

The Advocate General’s opinion, issued on 28 October 2004, states that a phamaceutical company with a dominant market position is not automatically breaking competition law if it refuses to fill all the orders of its customers as a way of restricting parallel trade.
The opinion is connected to the specific circumstances of the EU pharmaceutical market where differences in the prices of medicines is the result of government intervention.
The case C-53/03 was between Greek pharmaceutical (...)

The European Voice newspaper’s front page on 18 September attempted to shed some light on the proposals from the European Commission contained within the Pharmaceutical Package due out at the end of October this year.
In the article, the European Voice, claims that a draft of the proposed amendments would allow pharmaceutical companies to publish more information than is currently available on their websites and in written media.
EPHA was quoted in the article, stating the point that "it (...)