Legal regulation of determining the amount of income from providing marketing services in the pharmaceutical market: analysis of new developments in domestic legislation
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The article is devoted to the issue of legal regulation of setting the maximum revenue of pharmaceutical marketparticipants in connection with the amendment to the Law of Ukraine «On Medicines» dated April 4, 1996, with a provisionregulating the conclusion of commercial contracts the subject of which is directly or indirectly the provision of marketingservices, drug promotion services, and other services related to the sale of drugs to end consumers at points of retail saleof drugs. Due to the need to comply with the provisions of the law on the development of procedures for the provisionof such marketing services, the government initiated a public discussion of the draft regulatory document, which requiresscientifically sound consideration.Researchers have noted that, taking into account the current constitutional and regulatory provisions, as well as thepractice of the ECHR, the imposition of restrictions by the state on entrepreneurial activity in the pharmaceutical marketis legitimate. An analysis of the current Ukrainian legislation in the field of healthcare and the legislation that is in forcebut will come into effect on January 1, 2027, showed that there is a strict prohibition on the influence of any financial incentives on the sale (dispensing) of medicines, and therefore any legalization of marketing payments for this activityis unacceptable. Since prices for medicines in Ukraine are subject to state regulation, it is noted that marketing servicesin the field of pricing policy at retail outlets related to the sale of medicines to the end consumer cannot be provided.It is argued that marketing services in the field of organizing the sale of over-the-counter medicines are lawful onlyin the field of organizing their sale (dispensing) to end consumers as payment for placing these medicines on display,in glass and open cabinets, or in any other way freely accessible to consumers.It is emphasized that at the level of Ukrainian law, the rules regulating the maximum amount of income from theprovision of marketing services in the pharmaceutical market do not and cannot constitute a criminal offense underArticle 211 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.Keywords: pharmaceutical market, pharmacies, medicines, revenue, criminal liability.
Source: Issues of crime prevention
Language: English
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7128913832