Pharmacy and Free Medical Professions Division
The Pharmacy and Free Medical Professions Division monitors the pharmaceutical industry, as well as a part of the health care industry. The NMa enforces oversight on all primary-care providers, including general practitioners, physiotherapists, dentists, obstetricians, and pharmacies. This division’s oversight also covers independent medical specialists in hospitals.
Division manager:
 | Name: Jeroen Braaksma
Phone: +31-70-330-1306
(NMa Information and Tip-Off Line,
Monday through Friday, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.)
Email: info@nma.nl |
The pharmaceutical industry is a very large and international industry. Our division’s role therefore reaches far beyond our national borders. We work closely together with other regulators in EU member states. A special taskforce of the European Commission has conducted a comprehensive study into the pharmaceutical industry, to which we have contributed as well. The study was prompted by the fact that fewer new drugs were being launched, an indication of little innovation in the industry. Moreover, launches of cheaper, generic drugs have faced delays. Such drugs are allowed to be put on the market as soon as the patents on brand-name drugs expire. Abuse of dominant positions is the most common violation in this industry. If you encounter activities or other things that may indicate antitrust violations, we would like to hear more about them. Please contact us by calling or sending an email to the NMa Information and Tip-Off Line.
The health care industry’s transition to a market-based system is a relatively new development, and it is still an ongoing process. Several submarkets have little experience with competition. Our primary task in these markets is education and support. In these submarkets, parties usually do not have a clear understanding of cooperation and competition, for example, with health care groups, in which parties cooperate for the purpose of chain care. And that is exactly the kind of area where you sense a tension between the benefits of cooperation and its drawbacks with regard to competition. We educate extensively, for example, through conferences. And we have drawn up guidelines to make sure that patients are left with enough choices. Because this field is still evolving, we have not imposed any sanctions yet. You can help us make the health care industry work well. If you encounter behavior that impedes competition in this industry, we would appreciate it if you informed us thereof. Please contact us by calling or sending an email to the NMa Information and Tip-Off Line.
Examples
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Health Care Division
The Pharmacy and Free Medical Professions Division closely cooperates with the Health Care Division. In some submarkets, the activities of both divisions are closely aligned with one another. For example, the Pharmacy and Free Medical Professions Division enforces oversight on independent medical specialists in hospitals, while the Health Care Division enforces oversight on hospital-employed medical specialists.
Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa)
The NMa and the NZa work closely together. The NMa reviews health care concentrations, and it enforces the prohibition of cartels. In addition, the NMa comes into action in cases of abuse of dominance. The NZa also plays a role here: it can impose obligations on health care providers or health insurers, if they enjoy dominant positions, in order to prevent abuse thereof.
So the NMa enforces the rules when abuse has been established, whereas the NZa is able to prevent abuse from occurring in the first place. In addition, the NZa sets rules, budgets and tariffs for the regulated segments of the health care market, and it sets conditions for those segments of the market that are fully or partially being liberalized.
