FRANCE: Control of the drug market

I asked Carmen Negrín, who lives in Paris: "Who decides what medicines require a prescription? There must be a list of "strong medications". She replies: "In France, the Ministry of Health, with the assistance of doctors working in the Ministry, sets the list . It has recently been reduced, taking out those that are supposedly not useful or cheap enough that people can afford them. The use of generic medication is also strongly encouraged. This reform was foreseen under the previous government but was stopped because of objections, both by the Order of Doctors and of the Pharmacists. Spain had a similar reform".

Ronald Hilton - 8/5/03