Falsified Medicines—Bridging the Gap between Business and Public Health

The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most regulated industries in the world. While legislation is necessary to protect patients, too much legislation is said to hamper innovation and increase medicine prices. Using qualitative methods such as interviews and document analysis, we investigated th...

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Main Authors: Rasmus Borup, Janine Traulsen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2016-03-01
Series:Pharmacy
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/2226-4787/4/2/16
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author Rasmus Borup
Janine Traulsen
author_facet Rasmus Borup
Janine Traulsen
author_sort Rasmus Borup
collection DOAJ
description The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most regulated industries in the world. While legislation is necessary to protect patients, too much legislation is said to hamper innovation and increase medicine prices. Using qualitative methods such as interviews and document analysis, we investigated the role of private stakeholders in the EU policymakers’ decision to initiate legislation to combat falsified medicines in 2008. Our results show that the pharmaceutical industry, brand owners in particular, were strong proponents of legislation to combat falsified medicines. Their support was not fueled by fear that falsified medicines would harm patients or their own business, but rather because legislative action in this area would advance policies that benefit their businesses objectives. The brand owners framed the issue to policymakers as best to support their business objectives. In general, supply chain actors lobbied for stricter requirements in order to challenge competitors. In the end, the Falsified Medicines Directive may have suffered from company influence not by addressing the primary problem of falsified medicines, but rather by creating additional legislation that benefits the supply chain actors.
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spelling doaj.art-562b29f6f0b24031880cce0373c626aa2022-12-22T04:04:17ZengMDPI AGPharmacy2226-47872016-03-01421610.3390/pharmacy4020016pharmacy4020016Falsified Medicines—Bridging the Gap between Business and Public HealthRasmus Borup0Janine Traulsen1Department of Pharmacy, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 2, Copenhagen 2100, DenmarkDepartment of Pharmacy, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 2, Copenhagen 2100, DenmarkThe pharmaceutical industry is one of the most regulated industries in the world. While legislation is necessary to protect patients, too much legislation is said to hamper innovation and increase medicine prices. Using qualitative methods such as interviews and document analysis, we investigated the role of private stakeholders in the EU policymakers’ decision to initiate legislation to combat falsified medicines in 2008. Our results show that the pharmaceutical industry, brand owners in particular, were strong proponents of legislation to combat falsified medicines. Their support was not fueled by fear that falsified medicines would harm patients or their own business, but rather because legislative action in this area would advance policies that benefit their businesses objectives. The brand owners framed the issue to policymakers as best to support their business objectives. In general, supply chain actors lobbied for stricter requirements in order to challenge competitors. In the end, the Falsified Medicines Directive may have suffered from company influence not by addressing the primary problem of falsified medicines, but rather by creating additional legislation that benefits the supply chain actors.http://www.mdpi.com/2226-4787/4/2/16falsified medicines directivepharmaceutical policyEuropean commissionmultiple streams framework
spellingShingle Rasmus Borup
Janine Traulsen
Falsified Medicines—Bridging the Gap between Business and Public Health
Pharmacy
falsified medicines directive
pharmaceutical policy
European commission
multiple streams framework
title Falsified Medicines—Bridging the Gap between Business and Public Health
title_full Falsified Medicines—Bridging the Gap between Business and Public Health
title_fullStr Falsified Medicines—Bridging the Gap between Business and Public Health
title_full_unstemmed Falsified Medicines—Bridging the Gap between Business and Public Health
title_short Falsified Medicines—Bridging the Gap between Business and Public Health
title_sort falsified medicines bridging the gap between business and public health
topic falsified medicines directive
pharmaceutical policy
European commission
multiple streams framework
url http://www.mdpi.com/2226-4787/4/2/16
work_keys_str_mv AT rasmusborup falsifiedmedicinesbridgingthegapbetweenbusinessandpublichealth
AT janinetraulsen falsifiedmedicinesbridgingthegapbetweenbusinessandpublichealth