Brussels, 11 March 2025
Today, the Commission has proposed a Regulation to improve the availability of critical medicines in the EU. The proposal aims to protect human health by incentivising supply chain diversification and boosting pharmaceutical manufacturing in the EU. This will support the EU’s pharmaceutical sector which is a major contributor to our economy. The Act also aims to improve access to other medicines of common interest, which may not be available in certain markets. This initiative contributes to the European Health Union’s goal of ensuring that EU patients have access to the medicines they need, when they need them.
President von der Leyen announced the Critical Medicines Act in her political guidelines to reduce dependencies and enhance the EU’s resilience, particularly for medicines and active ingredients where there are only few supplying manufacturers or countries. It complements legislative proposals already put forward to address medicine shortages in the EU, notably the pharmaceutical reform.
In recent years, Member States have been confronted with serious medicine shortages and global challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions clearly exposed significant vulnerabilities in the EU’s pharmaceutical supply chain. Shortages can put patients’ lives at risk and place a significant burden on our healthcare systems. These shortages can be caused by manufacturing problems, supply chain vulnerabilities or global competition for resources. The Critical Medicines Act aims to provide an industrial toolkit to address these problems, by making the EU a market in which producing critical medicines will be more attractive.
The Act will facilitate investments for companies that increase EU manufacturing of critical medicines, while incentivising actions that make supply chains more resilient. It will also offer Member States the possibility to join together to increase their purchasing power.
Key elements of the Critical Medicines Act include:
- Strategic Projects will create, increase or modernise EU manufacturing capacity for critical medicines or their ingredients. These industrial projects may benefit from easier access to funding and fast-tracked administrative, regulatory and scientific support.
- State aid guidance has been published to assist Member States in financially supporting such Strategic Projects.
- Member States can use public procurement to diversify and incentivise the resilience of supply chains. For critical medicines, procurers will have to include a broader set of requirements in their procurement procedures, such as diversified sources of input material and monitoring of supply chains. In case of high dependency on a single or a limited number of countries, they will also have to use procurement requirements that favour critical medicine production in the EU. This will also be possible for other medicines of common interest, when justified.
- The Commission will support collaborative procurement among different Member States at the request of Member States, to address availability and access disparities of critical medicines and other medicines of common interest throughout the EU.
- International partnerships with likeminded countries and regions will be explored, to broaden the supply chain and reduce dependencies on single or limited numbers of suppliers.
Background
Tackling shortages and ensuring access to medicines have been a priority for the EU for many years. The 2020 Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe set out a series of regulatory measures and additional support for industry to promote research and innovation in the area of medicinal products, while addressing shortages and lack of access for patients. It also led to the launch of a Structured Dialogue on the industrial dimension of security of supply with all stakeholders. In 2022, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) was given a stronger mandate to manage shortages. Since then, together with groups of national authorities, it has played a key role in monitoring and responding to critical medicine shortages.
In 2023, the Commission proposed an ambitious overhaul of the EU’s pharmaceutical legislation, to improve access and strengthen the supply chains of medicines. This reform is currently being negotiated by the European Parliament and Council. Further initiatives taken include the publication of a Union list of critical medicines, to help identify and monitor critical medicines; and a Commission Communication on addressing medicine shortages in the EU.
The Critical Medicines Act complements these measures with industrial policy tools to address supply chain vulnerabilities of critical medicines and reduce the EU’s dependencies in this strategic area.
For more information
- Proposal for a Critical Medicines Act
- Questions and answers on the Critical Medicines Act
- Factsheet – EU Actions to address medicines shortages
- Factsheet – Critical Medicines Act
- State aid guidance
- Webpage
Quotes
The Critical Medicines Act is about improving a secure supply of vital medicines in Europe. It will allow for the Commission and the Member States working together towards reducing the risk of supply disruptions of those medicines and our dependencies on third countries, boosting our resilience in healthcare and supporting our manufacturing capacities.
Teresa Ribera, Executive Vice-President for Clean, Just and Competitive Transition
Medicine shortages and structural dependencies in our pharmaceutical supply chains put the health of Europeans at risk. Today’s Critical Medicines Act is a key initiative to improve access and availability to medicines for everyone in the EU, and to strengthen our health security. By supporting manufacturing and creating market incentives, this Act will complement our pharmaceutical reform and help build more resilient supply chains for critical medicines in Europe.
Olivér Várhelyi, Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare
Source – EU Commission
Questions and answers on the Critical Medicines Act
Brussels, 11 March 2025
Why is the Commission proposing a Critical Medicines Act?
Over the past decade, EU Member States have been confronted with severe medicine shortages on various occasions, and several categories of medicines have become increasingly prone to shortages. As witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic, shortages can be particularly problematic in crisis situations, where demand increases sharply. Another challenge is that access also varies greatly between Member States for certain medicines. Lack of availability and shortages of medicines pose a substantial risk to public health and patient safety and undermine the functioning of healthcare systems.
Furthermore, the EU’s strong and competitive pharmaceutical sector is essential to ensuring our wider economic security and citizens’ jobs, employing around 800,000 people across the EU. At the same time, production of generic medicines has increasingly moved outside of Europe, and there is a reliance on certain suppliers and countries which produce key medicines and pharmaceutical ingredients.
The Critical Medicines Act is an industrial policy toolbox to protect patients and enhance manufacturing capabilities. It complements the proposed reform of the EU’s pharmaceutical legislation and the enhanced role of the European Medicines Agency in managing shortages. The Act aims to reduce critical medicine shortages and create better security of supply throughout the EU. It provides measures to address supply chain vulnerabilities for critical medicines and to reduce Europe’s dependency on single suppliers and third countries. It also proposes measures to address market failures, whereby certain EU countries do not have access to medicines of common interest.
The Critical Medicines Act is one of the actions set out in the Competitiveness Compass, since it is vital for EU competitiveness to ensure a reliable and diversified supply of medicines in this strategic area.
What are the causes of medicine shortages in the EU?
There are many, complex reasons why the EU has faced medicine shortages in recent years. The challenges arise along the pharmaceutical chain, from manufacturing problems to vulnerabilities in the supply of key ingredients. A survey showed that over 50% of reported shortages are caused by manufacturing issues, including shortages in active substances.
Global competition for resources and the concentration of production in a few countries also add to the problem. This was highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical tensions, which exposed the EU’s supply chain weaknesses and the risk of such dependencies being weaponised.
What does the Critical Medicines Act aim to achieve and how?
The Critical Medicines Act aims to address the issues above, by:
- strengthening Europe’s manufacturing capacity;
- diversifying supply chains;
- reducing the EU’s dependencies;
- incentivising resilience;
- leveraging demand.
This will help to ensure that Europe has a more stable supply of critical medicines. It will also help to increase access and availability of other medicines of common interest, where disparities between countries exist, such as certain medicines for rare diseases.
To achieve this, the Act sets out a series of industrial policy measures, such as the designation of Strategic Projects which aim to create, increase or modernise manufacturing capacity of critical medicines in the Union. Such Strategic Projects would benefit from certain incentives and facilitations. Access to EU funding will be facilitated for projects and actions that address vulnerabilities in the supply chain through STEP.
The Act also proposes measures related to public procurement as a way to incentivise secure supply chains and make markets more attractive for manufacturers, whilst giving Member States access to a stable supply of medicines. For critical medicines, public procurers will have to include a broader set of requirements in their procurement procedures, such as diversified sources of input material and monitoring of supply chains. In case of high dependency on a single or a limited number of countries, where justified, they will also have to use procurement requirements that favour critical medicine production in the EU. This will also be possible for other medicines of common interest in certain circumstances.
To ensure the safe supply of critical medicines from multiple sources, the EU will also seek to enhance existing bilateral cooperation in this area and build new strategic partnerships.
What would the Strategic Projects entail and how would this help tackle shortages?
The proposed Act defines criteria for certain industrial ventures which could be recognised as Strategic Projects, if they create, increase or modernise EU manufacturing capacity of critical medicines and their key ingredients. This can also include processes that ensure greater sustainability or increased efficiency, as well as the deployment of key technologies that enable manufacturing.
Strategic Projects will be given incentives to strengthen the EU supply chain, including fast-tracked permit procedures, streamlined environmental assessments and administrative and scientific support. Strategic Projects that address supply chain vulnerabilities can also have easier access to EU funding (including through a STEP Seal) and Member States will be able to prioritise financial support to these Strategic Projects, subject to certain conditions. The Commission has also published guidance on the application of State aid rules to support such projects.
Strategic Projects receiving financial support would have specific obligations to comply with, including the requirement to prioritise EU supply.
What does the Act propose on public procurement of critical medicines and other medicines of common interest?
The Critical Medicines Act proposes several different ways in which Member States’ public procurement can be used to strengthen the resilience of supply chains:
First, the Commission will develop guidance on smart criteria that procurers in the Member States can use in their procurement procedures. Procurers will have to apply procurement requirements other than price in their public procurement procedures for critical medicines. These may include, for example, criteria related to diversified sources of input material, stockpiling and/or monitoring of supply chains.
For critical medicines with high dependency on a single or limited number of countries, public procurers, where justified, will have to apply procurement requirements that favour suppliers that manufacture a significant proportion of these critical medicinal products in the EU. Procurers will also be able to apply this requirement for other medicines of common interest, when justified. This would help to reduce dependencies and diversify supply.
Second, the Act outlines how Member States can request Commission support in the use of different collaborative procurement tools among themselves, such as joint procurement. This can create economies of scale and reduce access and availability disparities.
How would the Collaborative Procurement work?
The proposed Act provides a framework for Member States to request Commission support in using different collaborative procurement tools for critical medicines and other medicines of common interest, under certain conditions. There are several options to carry out this work:
- The Commission supports cross-border procurement between Member States;
- The Commission procures certain medicines on behalf of or in the name of Member States;
- The Commission and Member States voluntarily engage in Joint Procurement.
Such procurement would always be voluntary and in respect of the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality.
Does the Act cover all medicines?
The Act is focussed primarily on critical medicines listed in the Union List (see below). These cover a wide range of medicines, from antibiotics and anti-thrombotics to cancer treatments and cardiovascular medicines.
Critical medicines are those with limited or no alternatives and for which a shortage of supply would result in serious harm to patients. They are medicines for which security of supply in the EU must be always ensured, for continuity of care, quality healthcare and the protection of public health protection across Europe. Certain provisions of the Act apply only to critical medicines that have specific vulnerabilities in their supply chain.
The Critical Medicines Act also covers certain other medicines of common interest that encounter market failures. These include, for example, medicines for rare diseases.
How does the Critical Medicines Act interact with the EU Pharmaceutical reform proposals currently being negotiated?
The reform of the EU’s pharmaceutical legislation, proposed in 2023, seeks to provide all patients with more timely and equitable access to safe, effective and affordable medicines. It includes important regulatory measures to avert medicine shortages and to strengthen the security of supply critical medicines. These include stronger obligations on companies to ensure continuous supply of medicines, including by notifying shortages and withdrawals in advance and putting into place shortage prevention plans.
Coordination at EU level has also been strengthened, with the EMA and groups of national representatives offering prevention and mitigation measures, on-going monitoring and recommendations on ways to resolve or to mitigate critical shortages.
The Pharmaceutical reform also provides the legal basis for a Union List of Critical Medicines (see below) which will be regularly updated and analysed to identify vulnerabilities in the supply chain.
The proposed Critical Medicine Act complements the measures already put forward. It presents industrial policy solutions that can work hand-in-hand with the regulatory measures in the proposed pharma reform, to address vulnerabilities in the supply chain of critical medicines and mitigate the risk of shortages. As such, the Critical Medicines Act is part of our work to complete the European Health Union and is fully in line with goals of the Pharmaceutical Strategy for Europe.
What is the Union List of Critical Medicines and how is it integrated in the Act?
The Union list of Critical Medicines was created to help identify medicines for which continuity of supply is a priority, as they are critical to the proper functioning of EU healthcare systems. The first list was published in December 2023 and was updated in 2024 and currently has over 270 active substances, covering treatments for illnesses such as infections, cardiovascular diseases, mental health conditions and cancer. It was developed with the European Medicines Agency and all EU Member States, who assessed thousands of medicines using a strict assessment methodology. The Critical Medicines list is also used to support the Commission’s analysis of vulnerabilities in the supply chains of the listed medicines. The Critical Medicines Act builds on the Union list of Critical Medicines that will be formalised under the EU Pharmaceutical Reform.
What role did the Critical Medicines Alliance have in the preparation of the Act?
The Critical Medicines Alliance was created in April 2024, to bring to together Member State, industry, trade, patient, medical and public sector representatives to look at how to strengthen the critical medicines supply chain. Over 300 stakeholder organisations took part in the process which resulted in a series of recommendations published on 28 February 2025.
Among the Alliance’s recommendations were incentives to boost production capacity in Europe through a mix of EU and public funding and State aid; the use of criteria other than price in public procurement; a harmonised framework for contingency stocks; and measures to promote a level playing field between EU and third country producers of medicines. The Alliance also recommended increased outreach to third countries to address vulnerabilities in the medicines supply chain.
These recommendations were considered in the preparations of the Critical Medicines Act, together with other consultations activities such as the Structured Dialogue, the work of the Medicines Shortages Steering Group (MSSG) and Medicines Shortages Single Point of Contact Working Party and the Call for Evidence.
Source – EU Commission
Press remarks by Executive Vice-President Ribera and Commissioner Várhelyi on the Critical Medicines Act
Strasbourg, 11 march 2025
“Check against delivery”
Press remarks by Executive Vice-President Ribera
“I think it is good news what we bring to you all, what we bring to the Europeans in general terms because in the path to achieve a more secure Europe, we also identified that it was important to take steps around critical medicines, so to ensure that we could cut the vulnerabilities, the fragilities of not counting on the capacity to tackle medicine needs in occasions where we may not produce or where there may be market failures.
In general terms, we are convinced that protecting our infrastructures, avoiding unreliable dependencies are things that relate back to what we understand as security. So today, we are here, Commissioner Várhelyi and myself, to announce a crucial proposal for a Critical Medicines Act. This is one of the key actions outlined in the Competitiveness Compass to tackle a critical issue that has become increasingly a point of concern for European citizens: the shortage of essential medicines. It is crucial for the future of Europe to count on a reliable and diversified supply of critical medicines.
This initiative represents a significant step forward to ensure that these essential medicines remain accessible, affordable, and available to all Europeans who depend on them. This proposal is not just a matter of public health, it is a matter of security and resilience. I want to stress that, according to the European Council, a 360 degrees approach to security is key. Security of course is defence, is equipment but it is also being prepared in case of cyberattacks or being prepared when there is a virus that may attack our population.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the fragility of our pharmaceutical supply chains and made evident the urgent need for a comprehensive strategy in this field. We have all seen the devastating consequences of these shortages. This is why we are working to be prepared to confront any type of challenge of this kind in the future.
It is a complex global landscape, and the proposal provides measures to address supply chain vulnerabilities. It introduces measures to address market failures, whereby certain European countries do not have access to medicines of common interest. It also introduces a wide array of measures and opportunities for Member States and the Commission to work together through collaborative procurement and to coordinate the strategic projects.
It notes that private investment alone may not be enough, so in order to achieve the objectives of the proposal, we need to rely on targeted financial support from the Member States as well as from the European Union. For example, if a critical medicine is no longer produced, or not produced enough, Member States could hire and compensate a company to quickly set up the production needed to ensure we have enough in times of crisis.
This is why today we also published an updated guidance on how we could play according to our existing state aid rules so that Member States address collectively security of supply issues regarding critical medicines. I think that today’s proposal will help in this field in a very important manner.
With this proposal we are safeguarding health, we are securing our future, we are trying to remain at the forefront of innovation, stability, and care for its citizens. It is my great pleasure to share this podium with Commissioner Várhelyi to introduce this very important act.”
Press remarks by Commissioner Várhelyi
“Thank you very much. We have just presented at the plenary the proposal which has been long awaited, something that was long overdue, and this is why this Commission has made sure that this is adopted in the first 100 days. Today is the 100 day, and the proposal is already with the co-legislators. The Act is a key part of our holistic approach to support both Member States in addressing their persistent problems in terms of access to medicines, but it should also contribute to the supply of critical medicines and to improve the competitiveness of our pharmaceutical sector.
Overall, it aims to ensure a high level of public health protection, and also to support the security of supply, or as it was already quoted at the plenary, the strategic autonomy when it comes to medicines in Europe. In recent years we have seen a peak of medicine shortages, only in 2019 the highest numbers were registered with over 14,000 notifications only in 1 year. We also see that the member states are recording very high numbers of shortages, more than 200 registered in 2023. We also see that these are very basic and essential medicinal products that are needed for example to continue to help people with cardiovascular conditions, with diabetes, or preventing thrombosis during operations in hospitals.
For certain medicines, access also varies largely between the member states, there is clearly a persistent challenge with certain medicines of common interest depending on the size of the market and also depending on the use of these products. I have in mind the rare diseases or the orphan drugs, or even the new antibiotics that we will need.
All this creates a serious risk to public health, especially when it comes to the reliable operation of our healthcare systems. We had to look why we have these problems and challenges. We came to the conclusion, also building on the work of the Critical Medicines Alliance which has just published its report, that more than half of the cases concern problems in the pharmaceutical value chain, mainly related to the manufacturing part.
We see shortages both of production capacities when it comes to medicinal products but also when it comes to active ingredients. We also see very clearly that we rely largely on a very concentrated geographic area, on a few countries outside the European Union, which makes us dependent but also vulnerable and this is why we need to address this problem head on.
It is also clear that where there is a surge in demand, we have to be able to adapt ourselves. The best way to do that is to be able to control the production, also here in Europe. Today’s proposal aims to tackle these issues, Executive Vice-President Ribera already mentioned our proposal for member states to use strategically the state aid rules of the European Union in a facilitated way so they can re-attract investments back into Europe for manufacturing pharmaceutical products. We also have on the table the reform proposal for the Pharmaceutical regulation, pending in the Council and the European Parliament, where we wanted to strengthen already the role of the European Medicines Agency to have a better monitoring system but also a faster possibility to react.
It is very clear that without strengthening the industrial base in Europe and their production capacities, we are not going to be able to address this problem. Now we need to encourage and facilitate the investment, this is why it is very important that, with the introduction of these facilities under our state aid rules we are creating the opportunity to consider these projects to be of a strategic nature, meaning much faster procedures, less complex procedures, less costly and more predictable procedures for those who are ready to engage with us to bring these productions back.
The state aid rules of course have their own limits because we also see that many of these products that we aim to bring back are products where the economic viability of bringing them back is hard to create even with state aid. This is why we are looking at new ways of international partnerships that maybe we can also create these value chains much closer to our markets.
The other big tool we are putting on the table is again, maybe not that new, but new in the sense that it is capable of creating markets. It is very clear that what you see as shortage or lack of access to medicines, or problems in terms of access to medicines, is a market failure. Market failures are normally not addressed through regulatory means but by market means and this is why we wanted to tap into the experience of the Critical Medicines Alliance and to use joint procurement in a more strategic way to create the necessary demand, so that the necessary supply is also there. The combination of bringing back production and the creation of markets will have a much higher level of security of supply, this is our calculation with this proposal. We can combine markets, we can make markets economically viable markets that are not currently viable.
We will see how fast the co-legislators will go, but the urgency is very clear. We have seen already from the debate in the European Parliament, this is a problem that has occurred to all of us during the Covid pandemic, but this problem has only got bigger with time. So we need to act now and we need a solution on the ground as fast as we can, thank you.”
Source – EU Commission
EU must boost pharma production to shield against trade wars
Brussels, 11 March 2025
“An extremely worrying shortage of critical medicines has been on the rise across the EU for many years now. The situation is urgent: in Europe, there is a lack of vital medicines, products like insulin, antibiotics and painkillers, for example,” warned Tomislav Sokol MEP, the EPP Group spokesman on Public Health, ahead of today’s Commission’s proposal on the Critical Medicines Act.
“Faced with increasing global instability, the threat of trade wars and tariffs, it is beyond time to act. Our citizens cannot wait – they rely on these medicines every day. While health is primarily a national competence, we firmly believe there is much that the EU can and must do to alleviate this problem.” MEP Sokol describes the forthcoming Critical Medicines Act as “an opportunity for Europe to reinforce its pharmaceutical resilience by strengthening its pharmaceutical industry and supply chains.”
“Boosting European production is crucial. The EU needs to reduce its dependence on third countries for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and increase medicine production in Europe,” Sokol explained. The EPP Group wants to ensure fair and timely access to medicine for citizens across all Member States. Reforming EU procurement rules to prioritise the security of supply and supporting EU-funded investments in medicine manufacturing are steps in the right direction, according to Sokol.
“We shouldn’t forget the lessons we learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic exposed major gaps in access to essential medicines, fragile supply chains, our over-reliance on imports and the lack of coordination between EU countries. COVID-19 proved the value of joint procurement in terms of vaccines. Such action, even voluntarily, along with coordinated stockpiling where practical, is how the EU can add value in collaboration and support of Member State efforts.”
“It’s time for the EU to step up and guarantee the health security of its citizens,” Sokol concluded.
Source – EPP Group
Statements der EU-Abgeordneten Schenk und Liese (beide CDU) zum Critical Medicines Act
Heute präsentierte die EU-Kommission ihren “Critical Medicines Act”. Dazu erklären:
Oliver Schenk (CDU), Mitglied des Gesundheitsausschusses des Europaparlaments:
„Es ist sehr zu begrüßen, dass die Kommission genau 100 Tage nach ihrer Arbeit den Critical Medicines Act vorstellt. Europa ist zu abhängig bei wichtigen Arzneimitteln wie Antibiotika oder einfachen Hustensäften für Kinder geworden. Die Lösung aus dieser Abhängigkeit liegt in der Stärkung des Pharmastandortes Europa. Der heutige Vorschlag soll daher klare Anreize für Investitionen in neue Produktionskapazitäten schaffen. Dafür braucht es finanzielle Anreize, schnelle Genehmigungsverfahren und mehr Zuverlässigkeit auf der Abnehmerseite. Zudem muss ein Beschaffungsrahmen eingeführt werden der neben Kostenerwägungen die Sicherheit der Lieferkette in den Vordergrund stellt. Dies ermöglicht es, ein Gleichgewicht zwischen Kosteneffizienz und Versorgungssicherheit herzustellen.
Momentan sehen wir nicht nur ein Problem bei den Lieferketten, sondern auch unterschiedliche Kapazitäten und Verfügbarkeiten der Mitgliedsstaaten. Durch digitalen und flexiblen Austausch von Information können betroffene Staaten unterstützt werden, was die Solidarität innerhalb der EU stärkt.
Sobald die Politik Richtungsentscheidungen trifft und mit den richtigen Instrumenten handelt, investiert die Wirtschaft und bekennt sich zum Standort Europa – der CMA ist ein wichtiger Schritt in die richtige Richtung, aber wir müssen viel stärker unsere industrielle Basis und renommierte Forschung für die Zukunft unterstützen.“
Peter Liese (CDU), Mitglied des Gesundheitsausschusses des Europaparlaments:
„Zu oft hören Patientinnen und Patienten in der Apotheke oder im Krankenhaus: ‚Das Medikament ist nicht lieferbar.‘ Das führt nicht nur zu Frustration bei den Patienten, sondern auch zu unnötiger Mehrarbeit des medizinischen Personals und leider auch zu Komplikationen. Die EU hat dieses Problem nicht verursacht – das waren die Mitgliedstaaten, die jahrelang nur auf den Preis geachtet haben. Dies hat dazu geführt, dass Arzneimittel fast ausschließlich in Indien und China hergestellt werden. Die EU kann einen wesentlichen Beitrag zur Lösung leisten.
Der Vorschlag enthält viel positives wie neue europaweite Vorschriften zur Lagerhaltung von Medikamenten, der gemeinsamen Beschaffung oder stärkeren internationalen Kooperation.
Aus meiner Sicht der wichtigste Punkt ist es, eine Rückverlagerung der Produktion in die EU durch bessere Vergütung für Medikamente, die in der EU produziert werden, hinzubekommen. Derzeit wird die Produktion in Europa einfach nicht ausreichend vergütet. Es muss von den Kostenträgern, z. B. den Krankenkassen in Deutschland, honoriert werden, wenn Medikamente in der EU produziert werden. Wir brauchen die Marktmacht von 450 Millionen Menschen, damit sich die Produktion in Europa wieder lohnt. Das wird zwar Geld kosten, aber ich bin überzeugt, dass das Gesundheitssystem unterm Strich Kosten einsparen wird. Erstens entfällt für das medizinische Personal viel Arbeitsaufwand, da es nicht ständig nach Alternativen suchen und Medikamenten hinterhertelefonieren muss. Zweitens lassen sich ganz konkret Krankenhausaufenthalte vermeiden, wenn Medikamente zur Verfügung stehen. Ich war selbst bei einem Arbeitseinsatz in der Kinderklinik Paderborn Zeuge davon, dass einige Kinder nur stationär aufgenommen wurden, weil es keinen Antibiotikasaft gab. Ein Tag in der Kinderklinik kostet 300-mal mehr als eine Flasche Antibiotikasaft“.
Quelle – CDU/CSU-Gruppe (per E-Mail)