Austrian OTC Industry "Hoping For 50 Switches"

At its scheduled November 5 meeting, it is hoped that the Austrian government's Prescribing Commission will select 50 prescription drug substances for switching to over-the-counter status, according to Dietrick Claus, director of the Austrian OTC industry association, the IGEPHA.

Mr Claus told the annual self-medication conference organized by OTC News, held this month in Vienna, Austria, that since the implementation on February 16, 1994 of European Union Directives 92/96, 92/27 and 92/98 in the Austrian Medicines Act, the initial effects of such harmonization efforts have been apparent in moves towards such switches.

In 1993, the IGEPHA had concluded that neither the Prescribing Commission, the physicians nor the pharmacists were interested in the growth of self-medication. Even pharmaceutical companies were not keen on change, he said; they promoted their products to the medical profession through their detailing forces, making use of the fact that most medicines are reimbursed through social security.