Spain approves Medicines Law with new pricing and nurse prescribing

The Spanish government has approved a comprehensive reform of the Medicines Law, expected to save the public system around €2.1 billion annually Source: La Vanguardia, while El Español reports €2.2 billion. The law updates the 2015 framework and introduces significant changes for patients, professionals, and industry.

Patient choice and pricing

The new system establishes a range of financed prices within homogeneous groups of equivalent drugs. If a patient chooses a brand priced above the financing limit, they must pay the difference out-of-pocket, on top of their usual copayment Source: El Confidencial. Minister Mónica García stated this maintains choice without shifting overcost to the state Source: Infobae.

Prescribing rights extended

Nurses and physiotherapists are formally recognized as prescribers within their competence, a move opposed by the Spanish Medical Organization (OMC) which argues that prescribing is a medical act requiring extensive training Source: Infobae. The ministry sees it as normalizing common practice.

Supply security and innovation

The law introduces the concept of "strategic medicine" for essential drugs with vulnerable supply chains, allowing the Spanish Medicines Agency (AEMPS) to adopt economic measures to avoid shortages Source: La Vanguardia. Conditional financing will allow innovative drugs to be publicly funded provisionally for up to 180 days Source: Infobae. Additionally, a new tax on hospital drugs will be paid by pharmaceutical companies based on sales volume .