Abbott wins reimbursement court case in the Czech Republic

2010-03-09

Abbott, the prominent US drug manufacturer, has won a court case against the Czech Health Ministry which involved incorrect reimbursement levels for its hypertension medicine Tarka, according to a report in Mlada Fronta Dnes. The court ruled that the drug was classified in the wrong reimbursement group, and, as a result, Czech patients had to co-pay CZK 20 (€0.78) per packet. The Czech Medicines Control Agency (SUKL) – which is responsible for establishing reimbursement levels – claims that it carried out the reimbursement procedure in accordance with legal requirements. However, the outcome of this case suggests that in reality patients could pay more than necessary for many more medicines as a result of incorrect reimbursement calculations.
Another five similar cases are being dealt with by Czech courts, with two more in the wings. The Ministry claims that it does not fear an avalanche of cases prompted by this ruling but it suggested to the court that the verdict could cause the collapse of the entire drug reimbursement system in the country.