Recent changes to the Czech legal framework of setting the prices of pharmaceuticals paid for by the system of public health insurance

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Tomáš, | Mach,

Abstract: The article comments on a recent ruling of the Czech Constitutional Court in the context of the public health insurance system and the way the rules of payments from this system towards various medicines are being set by the relevant ministry. The article explains the way the system has worked and it comments on the question of conformity of the national legislation with that of the EC. It also introduces the political and diplomatic circumstances that had occurred before this ruling. By doing so, the article provides its readers not only with a legal analysis of the system (which is the main purpose of this text), but also an insight into the most obvious circumstance that must have had impact on the exact content of the courts decision.

Keywords: Czech pharmaceutical law, public health insurance, pricing of pharmaceuticals, EC – national law relationship, constitutional court, conformity with EC legislation, transparency directive, constitutional right, fair process

Journal: Pharmaceuticals, Policy and Law, vol. 9, no. 3-4, pp. 403-409, 2007