Germany To Scrap Positive List Plans

The German federal government is abandoning proposals for a national positive list of recommended drugs. The list, originally designed to reduce health care costs, is "absolutely dispensable because it does not in any way improve or cheapen the costs of medical care," according to Health Minister Horst Seehofer.

Nevertheless, pharmaceutical industry sources are worried that private groups will circulate their own positive lists. Hans Ruediger Vogel, head of the industry association, the BPI, fears that such lists will find growing acceptance as doctors become more worried about sticking to their prescribing budgets.

The first regional list, which was proposed by the Berlin doctors' association in August, suggests that doctors in the region prescribe treatments from a selected group of 600 drugs. The group said this list was an ideal tool to help doctors navigate more cost-effectively through the 8,000 or so products available, but several companies have taken legal steps to stop circulation of the Berlin list.