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On 22 March 2023, the European Commission tabled a proposal for a Directive on substantiation and communication of explicit environmental claims.
The proposal aims to harmonize the evaluation and monitoring of voluntary environmental claims – often referred to as “green claims” – towards EU consumers and control the proliferation of public and private environmental labels. Complementing the March 2022 proposal for a Directive on empowering consumers for the green transition as a lex specialis by providing more specific requirements on the substantiation, communication and verification of green claims, it contributes to the fight against “greenwashing”.

Pharma companies often employ Medical Science Liaisons (MSLs) in order to provide healthcare professionals (HCPs) with high-quality professional and scientific information that lacks promotional content thereby distinguishing it from the information provided by medical sales representatives.
In a recently published decision, the National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition (NIPN) stated that it does not support distinction between professional and promotional communication. This position leaves pharma companies with two options: either to register MSLs with the NIPN as a medical sales representative, or to try to severely restrict the information an MSL may share with HCPs.

In the last month, the Hungarian National Institute of Pharmacy and Nutrition (NIPN) published five new decisions on its website relative to the promotional practices of companies under investigation. The NIPN imposed fines for infringements within the range of HUF 3 million (approx. EUR 7,700) to HUF 31 million (approx. EUR 79,500).

In March 2021, the EU approved new reporting rules in a directive known as DAC7. The directive will require the operators of online platforms for the sale of goods and certain services, to collect, verify and share data on their sellers and their transactions concluded on the online platform. EU member states have until 31 December 2022 to implement DAC7 into national law. Certain platform operators will become a reporting platform and will need to start collecting and verifying data points in compliance with the DAC7 reporting requirements. The collected data points must be reported to the tax authorities of the relevant EU member state annually.

Recent amendments of Act XCVIII of 2006 („Medicine Economy Act”) have significant impact on medicine and device promotion, interactions with healthcare professionals as well as the pricing and reimbursement of medicinal products. The amendments blur the distinction between promotional and professional/scientific activities and communication which will require assessment of the types of events organized and HCP engagements concluded by pharma companies.