French 'reverse off-label' prescribing vote angers pharma industry
This article was originally published in SRA
Executive Summary
The pharmaceutical industry has hit out once more against the growing trend by governments in the EU to promote as a means of saving money the off-label use of drugs in indications for which an approved medicine is already available. The reaction came in response to a vote by the French National Assembly (the lower house) on 8 July to approve an amendment to the government's draft social security budget bill that would allow the off-label use of medicines as long as no identical product existed (previously it was only allowed if no authorized product existed)1.