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Medication shelf in a pharmacy: who bears the rising costs?
Photo: Monika Skolimowska / dpa
The pharmaceutical company Roche is taking legal action against the GKV Financial Stabilization Act of Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD). As a company spokeswoman confirmed on Thursday, the company has filed a constitutional complaint about the law.
The submission to the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe was made on Wednesday and is directed, among other things, against the increase in manufacturer discounts. Initially, there was no confirmation from Karlsruhe that the complaint had been received. Previously, the news portal »The Pioneer« reported.
Roche sees the law as an "unjustified encroachment on the freedom to practise a profession, which is to be protected by the Basic Law, as well as the general principle of equality". Lauterbach had brought the law, which came into force at the turn of the year, to plug a billion-dollar hole in the coffers of the statutory health insurance (GKV).
Among other things, the manufacturer discounts that companies have to grant to the statutory health insurance companies have been increased for this year. In addition to Roche, many other industry representatives, including Boehringer Ingelheim, had loudly criticized the law. They see the innovative strength of the industry in danger and warned of consequences for patients as well.
According to earlier information from the Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Manufacturers (VFA), which represents 47 drug manufacturers with 94,000 employees in Germany, the tightened price reductions alone will cost the industry 1.5 billion euros, plus further billions in costs, for example in the course of extended price moratoriums for medicines.
VFA President Han Steutel welcomed Roche's initiative and spoke of "legislative quick fixes". According to Steutel, these ruined an established legal framework "in passing" and should be reviewed in Karlsruhe. The reimbursement system for innovations had been "shaken up in a way that was contrary to the system".
mic/dpa-AFX