Medicines are special and the medicines market is unique

The controls provided by the comprehensive EU legislation covering medicinal products both for human and veterinary use, illustrate that the European Institutions recognise that medicines are special products to be treated with special care.

There does not, however, appear to be the same recognition of the unique nature of the medicines market. In a normal market, the major objective is usually to achieve maximum sales and profits. For all medicines , however, the aim is not to maximise sales but rather to ensure that a medicine is used only when it is necessary to do so and then only for the minimum period required to achieve the desired therapeutic effect.

When advice is sought on self-medication, the pharmacist may advise that it would be not be appropriate and some other other course of action should be taken. Normal distribution channel criteria should not therefore be applied to the market of medicines. This principle should be recognised in any policy debates on this issue.

A similar principle applies in the case of prescription medicines. Governments and health insurers seek to encourage all health professionals to ensure that all resources invested in healthcare are used efficiently and wisely. This means that prescriptions should be written only when appropriate, and then for the most cost effective treatment. This is why the prohibition on direct to consumer advertising of prescription-only medicines should continue. If permitted, such advertising would encourage increased demand for what could well be inappropriate or unnecessarily expensive treatment.