Las drogas para Europa apoyan la solicitud contra impuestos en la Directiva de medicamentos en aguas residuales
A dozen pharmaceutical companies, supported by employers’ medicines for Europe, have filed a lawsuit before the European Union Court of Justice to cancel an extended producer responsibility system (RAP) in the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD), which would apply a tax to the price of vision drugs.
The European employer of generic medicines explains that this pharmaceutical sector seems disproportionately affected by the measure, as it provides the majority of essential medicines for patients with serious illnesses. Specifically, for European health systems, generic medicines represent 70 percent of distributed medicines, 90 percent of critical medicines, and only 19 percent of pharmaceutical value.
The medicines for Europe have ensured that generic drug producers will be required to finance most of the costs of urban wastewater disposal, including those from other industrial or agricultural sources. Therefore, they expressed support for the agreement, Adamed, Fresenius Kabi, Insud, Polfharma, Sandoz, Stada, Teva, Vietris, and Zentive Companies, who are parties to the process.
In this regard, they detailed that the RAP system aims to promote the development of drugs in a more ecological way, but emphasized that it ignores the unique nature of pharmaceutical products, based on chemicals and whose redesign is extremely complex without compromising their effectiveness.
Additionally, the employer created a model showing the impact that the RAP measure had on the provision of medicines that millions of patients rely on in the continent. To do this, they took the example of the Netherlands and indicated that metformin, a diabetes treatment, would increase in cost by 875 percent; amoxicillin would experience a 368 percent increase; and phenytoin, used for epilepsy, up to 321 percent.
The model created also reveals a serious and concerning imbalance for the generic sector, as despite representing 19 percent of total market costs, it is expected to bear up to 60 percent of the plan’s costs.
The directive refers to an estimated cost of water treatment of 1.180 billion euros per year, which would undermine the economic viability of many vital medicines. However, estimates by some member states warn that the figure could be five to six times higher; the German government emphasizes that it could range between 5,000 and 11,000 million euros per year.
For the employer, this cost would create a «shortage of generic medicine,» leading to catastrophic consequences for patients and the sustainability of European healthcare systems, which would be harmed.
In addition to considering the RAP measure as «disproportionate» for imposing high taxes on cheap and «discriminatory» medicines, linked only to the pharmaceutical and cosmetic sector without evidence that only they are responsible for pollution, the industry also emphasizes that it is based on a flawed impact assessment, which will exacerbate an untenable situation.
The medicines for Europe have stated that they hope the European Union Court of Justice will accept the appeal, as there is «very clear» evidence that the Directive is «discriminatory» and «disproportionate» due to its «significant impact» on very low, ultra-conventional, and ultra-critical medicines. They were open to discussing with EU institutions without having to go to trial, but emphasized that they do not see this happening, hence the need to resort to legal action.
«We strongly support the legal submissions against the discriminatory and disproportionate extended producer responsibility system in the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive. Access to healthcare is a fundamental right of European citizens.»
FUENTE
