Hungarian drugmakers take action on Rxing

Two Hungarian associations of pharmaceutical producers have launched a paid advertising campaign to clear up what they call "misunderstandings related to the Ministry of Health's new regulation on prescription medicines," the economic daily Napi Gazdasag has reported (Marketletters passim).

Krisztina Szekely, one of the organizers, told reporters that the Ministry's "Get better cheaper!" communication campaign may have led patients to the conclusion that doctors are bound by new laws to prescribe the cheapest product containing the active agent required for a certain treatment or face fines. She added that producers believed that the campaign was necessary since not only the public but also doctors had misunderstood the Ministry's communication, as a lot of doctors were under the same impression.

The 25.0 million forint ($135,000) advertising campaign is aimed at reassuring patients that, if they prefer a specific product, they are entitled to ask their doctors for it. They may then prescribe it, said Ms Szekely.