A visiting delegation urges early passage of Patent Linkage legislation. During a recent visit to Taipei, a six-member delegation from the Washington, DC-based Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) urged Taiwan’s legislature to give early attention to pending bills to strengthen intellectual property protection for pharmaceuticals. Passage of the proposed amendments to the Pharmaceutical…
Companies have been punished for disseminating disease-awareness information. In Taiwan, as in the rest of the world with the lone exceptions of the United States and New Zealand, pharmaceutical companies are prohibited from advertising prescription drugs directly to consumers. The main rationale for that approach is the belief that decisions on what drug to prescribe…
For the time being, the National Health Insurance program is on a solid financial footing. But demographic shifts will pose greater challenges in the years ahead as Taiwan becomes an aged society with the need for increased care for the elderly. What are some of the ways Taiwan can try to cope with those pressures?…
A National Drug Policy Forum brought wide discussion but few conclusions. The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) in early February convened a one-day National Drug Policy Forum (originally scheduled to be held in December 2014), bringing together representatives from the various stakeholders: government, hospitals and other healthcare providers, the pharmaceutical industry (both originals and…
How to protect animals while also ensuring consumer safety? A bill currently before the Legislative Yuan would prohibit the manufacture and sale in Taiwan of cosmetics products tested on animals when alternative methods are available. It would authorize the Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA) to designate the alternative methods specified for industry use. If…
