German call for positive drug list, after scandals

The head of Germany's largest trade union, Verdi, Frank Bsirske, hascalled for the rapid introduction of a positive drugs list after the recent spate of drug corruption scandals in the hospital sector (Marketletter March 18).

Health funds should reimburse only drugs backed by a group of experts and included on a positive list, said Mr Bsirske. The German drug market is insufficiently transparent and there is inadequate information about usage, with further education and development in the sector being organized by the industry itself, he noted, adding that a positive list would also be of considerable help to doctors in working out their own prescribing directions.

Anke Martiny of the German anti-corruption organization Transparency International said the view of experts was that the bribery and corruption being uncovered in the hospital sector and elsewhere in the health service was merely the tip of the iceberg. No other sector of the economy operated on such a "self-service" basis as the health service, because it lacked both controls and transparency, she said.