Therapeutic Choices And Cost Curbs: Whose Responsibility?

Who is responsible for therapeutic choices and health cost containment was the topic of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries' Associations' general assembly two-day conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, last week.

A lively tone was set by keynote speaker Peter Sutherland, former Director General of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade/World Trade Organization and European Community Commissioner for Ireland in 1985/89, who urged the pharmaceutical industry to protest strongly against the contradiction of price control for drugs in a so-called single-market, free-competition environment. His personal observation was that the industry has been a European success story. However, he said, this is an anomalous situation which should be of serious concern as to the way prices are controlled by governments in each country of the European Union.

How can an internal market function if price controls are different across like products? he asked. This results, de facto, in subsidization from one part of the EU to another, and the objective of competition policy is to stimulate efficiency by competition, he explained. The pharmaceutical industry has unique characteristics and responsibilities, but none of these justify wholesale interference with competition.