Tag: medicines

More transparency on the pricing and reimbursement of medicines should be the rule for the future to improve patient's access to affordable treatments, MEPs said after backing draft legislation in the environment and public health committee.

Draft EU legislation seeks to bring services under the European standardisation system, with a view to improving their free movement in the single market. Yet in the case of healthcare, such standardisation threatens patient safety, says Dr Konstanty Radziwill.

Health specialists urged  the European Commission to include provisions to its revised proposal for the controversial Information to Patients directive, expected for early October, so that patients are fully instructed on how to take medicine properly.

The system for medical innovation is broken. The number of people struggling to obtain or afford essential medicines is rising at a dangerous pace. There must be a radical overhaul, said experts at a European Parliament hearing on Thursday (18 November).

Controversial plans to allow pharmaceutical companies to publish medicines information in newspapers have been scrapped by MEPs. The original proposal from the European Commission had been branded "advertising in disguise" by consumer groups, who welcomed the Parliament's U-turn.

Fewer animals will be used in the search for new medical cures as part of new rules on research backed by the European Parliament yesterday (8 September).

The effect of biodiversity loss on the possibility to make medicines is being neglected, write Eric Chivian and Aaron Bernstein, lead authors of Sustaining life: How human health depends on biodiversity and Achim Steiner, UN under-secretary general and the UN Environment Programme's executive director.

The EU's medicines regulator is under fire from the European Ombudsman for refusing to grant Danish researchers access to documents on two anti-obesity drugs so they can conduct independent analysis.

A key European Parliament committee has backed new measures against the illegal sale of medicines over the Internet.

The top official at the EU's competition office has told the European Parliament that some medicine makers effectively represent an obstacle to making savings in the health sector. However, he acknowledged that research-based pharma companies must be incentivised to produce new medicines.

European medicine authorities are growing increasingly alarmed by the number of bogus swine flu remedies being sold over the Internet. The news comes as MEPs gear up to debate new rules covering counterfeit medicines.

European Commission Vice-President Günter Verheugen has called for the revival of the stalled directive on providing information to patients, which has been held up by EU health ministers.

A broad coalition of NGOs is urging EU leaders to take responsibility for pharmaceutical policy out of the European Commission's industry section and hand it to its health and consumer affairs department. The call comes as heads of government meet in Brussels today (18 June) ahead of a reorganisation of the EU executive and the possible implementation of the Lisbon Treaty.

Pharmacists expect EU countries to scupper the European Commission's plans to change the rules on how drug companies communicate with patients. In an interview with EurActiv, John Chave, secretary-general of the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union (PGEU), said most countries view the proposal, which is a key element of the Commission's pharmaceutical package, as unnecessary.

The pharmaceutical industry and the European Commission have forged a multimillion-euro collaboration aimed at developing new medicines and bringing them to market more quickly.

The MEP responsible for steering the Counterfeit Medicines Directive through the European Parliament has lashed out at the EU executive for failing to include online sales in the scope of the proposal.

After tough negotiations with the Commission and member states, the European Parliament has finally endorsed an international agreement on improving access to medicines for developing countries. To come into force, the protocol must be ratified by at least two thirds of WTO members.

A Council of Europe conference proposes the establishment of an international convention to combat counterfeit medicines.

An OECD report on biopharmaceuticals innovation recommends national governments to co-ordinate their various policies related to the innovation chain to boost competitiveness and innovation of the biopharma sector.

The Commission has decided to speed up market authorisation of orphan drugs and of medicines responding to public health emergencies such as bioterrorist attack or influenza pandemic.

The health industry wants the future EU health policy to focus on enhancing the competitiveness of the sector while NGOs wish to see bigger healthcare budgets.

A high level of public health protection and the completion of the internal market were the main objectives of the comprehensive reform of the EU's pharmaceutical legislative framework. The review, which started in July 2001 and ended in March 2004, touched upon contentious issues, such as authorisation procedures, information to patients, regulatory data protection and 'pharmaco-vigilance'.

A new report by the World Health Organisation warns that the new Baltic Member States are among the worst sufferers of multidrug-resistant TB.

On 28 August, the EU published a shortlist of 41 food products whose names it would like to see included in a future WTO Geographical Indications (GI) register.