Since 1975
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • Home
  • Business
  • Japan clears bill to impose levies on falsified drug ads

Japan clears bill to impose levies on falsified drug ads

The House of Councilors approved the bill to amend the pharmaceuticals and medical devices law at a plenary session. (AFP)
The House of Councilors approved the bill to amend the pharmaceuticals and medical devices law at a plenary session. (AFP)
27 Nov 2019 04:11:32 GMT9
27 Nov 2019 04:11:32 GMT9

Tokyo

Japan on Wednesday enacted a bill to impose levies on drug makers and other firms using falsified or extravagant advertisements for selling pharmaceutical products.

The House of Councilors, the upper chamber of the Diet, the country’s parliament, approved the bill to amend the pharmaceuticals and medical devices law at a plenary session.

Under the revised law, violating firms will be slapped with a surcharge worth 4.5 percent of their sales achieved during the period they put such misleading ads. Those who voluntarily report their violations will be imposed with a half of the original surcharge.

The new rule was introduced in the wake of clinical trial data manipulations linked to the hypertension drug Diovan by Novartis Pharma K.K., a Japanese unit of Swiss drug giant Novartis AG.

The revised law will also pave the way for the provision of online instructions by pharmacists on the use of drugs. Face-to-face guidance was obligatory in principle before the amendment.

By following certain rules such as giving face-to-face instructions for the initial consultation, patients will be able to get prescriptions through their smartphones.

As for private imports of unapproved drugs, the revised law tightens regulations by clarifying the procedures the importers need to follow. It also stipulates the introduction of a system for substantially shortening the period drug makers have to wait for obtaining approvals for new drugs they developed ahead of their rivals in the world.

Jiji Press

topics
Most Popular
Recommended

return to top