New Legislation to Allow Generic Substitution

Posted on July 9, 2010 by Claire Molloy

The Irish Minister for Health, Mary Harney, has announced plans to bring forward legislation that would introduce reference pricing and permit generic substitution by pharmacists in Ireland.

Currently, when a specific brand of medicine is prescribed for a patient, a pharmacist can only supply that particular brand. The new measures would oblige pharmacists to advise patients if an alternative generic drug is available. In a country where less than one in five prescribed drugs are generic (compared to four in five in the UK), it is estimated that the new legislation would result in savings for the Irish taxpayer of at least €78m.

It is expected that 100 branded products will be covered in the legislation, which is expected to be introduced later this year.

We will update readers on the progress of this legislation. 

Tags: ,
Trackbacks (0) Links to blogs that reference this article Trackback URL
http://www.irelandip.com/admin/trackback/210713
Comments (0) Read through and enter the discussion with the form at the end
Post A Comment / Question Use this form to add a comment to this entry.







Remember personal info?
Send To A Friend Use this form to send this entry to a friend via email.