INFRINGED MEDICAL RIGHTS

After the restriction of private doctors’ right to prescribe medicines the system will be changed in the case of doctors employed in the civil service, too. In the future they may prescribe medicines subsidized by the health insurance for their patients only if they are authorized to do this by the clinic or hospital.

So far the general practice was that the National Health Insurance Fund has concluded a contract with the doctors individually but a new government edict modifies this. The Hungarian Medical Chamber criticizes the restriction while the Hungarian Association of Hospitals claims the right of prescibing medicines is the responsibility of the doctors and this cannot be transferred to institutions.

Translated by Péter Szentmihályi Szabó