One million people change brand of medicine every year, according to the Dutch Patient Federation. The pharmacy gives you another box with the same active ingredient. The pharmacy changes boxes because of the so-called ‘preference policy’ of the health insurers. The health insurers make big cheap deals with medicines. Since then, we have all spent much less on medicines and health insurance in the Netherlands.
Suffering from drug switch
That usually works, but not always. A poll of 2000 patients showed that a third of people felt sicker after the switch. Some even had to go to the doctor for that. The doctor may put “medical necessity” on the prescription. In that case, the pharmacy must in principle give you your old brand. But even then, the pharmacy sometimes lets people switch medicines, the Patient Federation shows in a new poll. This happened in more than a quarter of the cases.
Forms
Health insurers are not keen on ‘medical necessity’. They put pressure on doctors and pharmacists to limit ‘medical necessity’, for example by requiring a completed form. The Patient Federation also showed that a medicine change was sometimes necessary because the old medicine was not available. This is also a consequence of the preference policy – there are increasing shortages of medicines. In short: the preference policy saves a lot of money, but also has drawbacks.
Tired of drug changes? Do you want a fixed box, even if that means you have to pay extra for it? Reply to the statement:
I want a fixed brand of medicine, even if it costs extra money
- read more about I want a fixed brand of medicine, even if it costs extra money
