In a study published today, the Council of State recommends removing the general advertising ban for health professionals, in place for more than 70 years.
In his study Rules applicable to healthcare professionals in matters of information and publicity, the Council of State proposes to “remove the general ban on direct or indirect advertising and to establish a principle of free communication of information by practitioners to the public, subject to compliance with the rules governing their professional practice.”
Evolution of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union
The working group, chaired by Yves Doutriaux, wishes to grant this right of communication to health professions with a professional order: doctors, dentists, nurses, midwives, chiropodists, physiotherapists, pharmacists (who will still not be able to advertise the drugs).
The body justifies its decision by specifying that the regulation prohibiting direct or indirect advertising to health professions is likely to be affected by the development of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union; the strict control of the information that practitioners can make public today no longer seems to fully meet the legitimate expectations of the public; the rapid rise of the digital economy has made some of the current information restrictions obsolete.
Communicate with “tact and measure”
“People go to Google for information while being wary of the results,” analyzes Yves Doutriaux. “And according to a recent study, 35% of people under the age of 35, and 26% of all those likely to ‘to be treated would give up treatment, for lack of knowing who to contact or how to orientate oneself.
The advertising ban has been imposed on doctors and certain health professionals for more than 70 years. Here, communication is allowed, provided that it is not advertising. A health professional will be prohibited from exercising his profession “like a business”. He will have to communicate with “tact and measure”, by being “loyal” and “honest”.
Brag about your experience and disseminate your prices
Posters, TV spots or even paid referencing on the Internet are therefore prohibited. It is also prohibited to display the opinions of third parties on its own website. On the other hand, it will be possible for a physiotherapist or nurse to praise his experience and detail his professional practices on a website or in paper brochures.
The Council of State goes even further, by proposing to make the distribution of prices compulsory as soon as the first appointment is made, by phone or online. Liberal professionals from other European countries would also be forced to communicate to patients the list of procedures that they were previously authorized to perform.
To be effective, the general ban on direct or indirect advertising by health professionals must still be removed from the Public Health Code.
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