Dutch insurers pay doctors to go generic

Despite "serious objections" from the Royal Dutch Medical Association (KNMG), Menzis, one of the Netherlands largest health insurers, has won a court battle to pay bonuses to doctors who meet targets for prescribing generic drugs.

The main concern for medical professionals was that such a development would signal the end of doctors' independence when prescribing drugs. However, the ruling states that "there is nothing to show that doctors would deviate from these simply because of the bonus."