And remember, countries in Europe already negotiate with Big Pharma for drug prices so the costs are consistently lower than in the US. A major flaw in the health care reform was to fail to negotiate drug prices to control those costs. In a capitalist system, negotiating when you have volume should be one of the top priorities.
Looking at the budget problems across Europe, forcing doctors and pharmacies to use generic when available is likely to become a much more popular in the very near future. In France, generic is still rarely requested and some pharmacies become irritated when those products are requested. Welcome to the modern world. At least the bankers have their fat bonuses. The Guardian:
In a move designed to save €2.4bn (£2.1bn) a year, Spain's socialist government has passed a law forcing doctors and pharmacies to prescribe generic drugs rather than the more expensive brand names sold by pharmaceutical companies.
Spanish doctors will now have to complete prescriptions giving only the details of the active ingredients of the medicine that their patients must take, as well as the dose and format. The drugs are paid for partly by the state and partly by patients.
Pharmacies will be obliged to provide the cheapest available versions of drugs, which will frequently mean not the better-known brand names sold by the big drugs firms.
