消费者团体称：德国增加药物公司的责任范围的计划是不足的
FRANKFURT (Reuters Health) - The German Justice Ministry's plan to raise liability limits for drug manufacturers in patient lawsuits was criticized on Tuesday as being grossly inadequate.
Professor Edda Mueller, head of the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv), held a press conference in Berlin to urge that the Justice Ministry reconsider its proposals, which have been submitted to Germany's Parliament for initial discussion.
Currently, German law limits liability for drug companies to 200 million German marks (102 million euros) per company for each case, no matter how many people suffered damages. The Justice Department has proposed raising that limit to 120 million euros.
Mueller said in a statement that the new limit is "not acceptable in cases where thousands or tens of thousands of patients suffer side effects from a drug."
In an interview with Reuters Health, Thomas Isenberg, director of the vzbv's Health and Nutrition Division, said consumer groups want to see the liability limit raised to 240 million euros, double the Justice Ministry proposal.
The vzbv is pressuring the Justice Department to double the limits on other proposals as well, he said. For example, the Justice Department proposed a one-time payout limit of 600,000 euros and an annual pension of 36,000 euros, while the vzbv wants a 1.2-million-euro payout limit and 72,000-euro pension limit.
In addition, the vbzv wants to see the Justice Ministry create a liability fund with contributions from all drug companies for payouts in special cases. It also maintains that the burden of proof should be switched from patients, who now must show that a drug should not have been sold, to drugmakers, who would have to prove that there was no reason to pull the drug from the market.
Isenberg noted that the pharmaceutical industry is opposed to the current Justice Ministry plan and would almost certainly be even more set against the consumer federation's proposed changes. "The drug companies believe many of these things go to far," he said. "And they have a powerful lobby.", 百拇医药
Professor Edda Mueller, head of the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv), held a press conference in Berlin to urge that the Justice Ministry reconsider its proposals, which have been submitted to Germany's Parliament for initial discussion.
Currently, German law limits liability for drug companies to 200 million German marks (102 million euros) per company for each case, no matter how many people suffered damages. The Justice Department has proposed raising that limit to 120 million euros.
Mueller said in a statement that the new limit is "not acceptable in cases where thousands or tens of thousands of patients suffer side effects from a drug."
In an interview with Reuters Health, Thomas Isenberg, director of the vzbv's Health and Nutrition Division, said consumer groups want to see the liability limit raised to 240 million euros, double the Justice Ministry proposal.
The vzbv is pressuring the Justice Department to double the limits on other proposals as well, he said. For example, the Justice Department proposed a one-time payout limit of 600,000 euros and an annual pension of 36,000 euros, while the vzbv wants a 1.2-million-euro payout limit and 72,000-euro pension limit.
In addition, the vbzv wants to see the Justice Ministry create a liability fund with contributions from all drug companies for payouts in special cases. It also maintains that the burden of proof should be switched from patients, who now must show that a drug should not have been sold, to drugmakers, who would have to prove that there was no reason to pull the drug from the market.
Isenberg noted that the pharmaceutical industry is opposed to the current Justice Ministry plan and would almost certainly be even more set against the consumer federation's proposed changes. "The drug companies believe many of these things go to far," he said. "And they have a powerful lobby.", 百拇医药