Lithuania

[LT] Amendments to the Law on Pharmaceutical Activities

IRIS 2002-8:1/30

Nerijus Maliukevicius

Lithuanian Radio and Television Commission

On 4 June 2002, the Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas) rejected the President's veto on the suggested changes to the Act on Pharmaceutical Activities which were adopted by the Parliament on 9 May 2002. On 29 May 2002 the President announced that the suggested changes on banning advertisements of prescription drugs on radio and television would have banned all information about them on these media. He said that while the changes were aimed at prohibiting advertisements of prescription drugs, they had gone too far as "all information about medicines cannot be identified as being commercials." He also argued that the amendments violated the constitutional right of citizens to seek, receive and impart information. He vetoed the suggested changes and sent the act back to the Parliament, proposing that the ban on information regarding prescription drugs on radio and television should be excluded from the amended law.

In spite of that, the Parliamentary majority rejected the President's veto and adopted the amendments by a majority of 86 votes to 37. The new amendments to the Act on Pharmaceutical Activities allow the advertising of prescription drugs only in publications aimed at specialists; for this reason only non-prescription drugs could be advertised publicly. The law in this central provision reads as follows: "It is forbidden to advertise and provide information about prescription drugs on radio and television. It is forbidden to advertise these drugs on electronic information media."