Press Release: Antitrust: The European Commission rules against the Ordre national des pharmaciens for restrictions on competition in the French clinical analysis market

The European Commission has fined the Ordre national des pharmaciens (ONP) and its governing bodies €5 million for imposing minimum prices on the French market for clinical laboratory tests and hindering the development of groups of laboratories in this market, in violation of EU antitrust rules and provisions on restrictive business practices (Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU). The ONP is a professional body whose remit is to ensure that pharmacists in France comply with their professional duties1. The behaviour in question has damaged patients and the State, which have paid more for clinical tests than if competition had been allowed to develop. Since it appears that this behaviour has not yet been fully eliminated, the Commission has instructed the ONP to put a stop to it immediately.

ESO: Background Information: Commission confirms unannounced inspections on biomedical analysis market http://www.europeansources.info/record/memo-anti-trust-commission-confirms-unannounced-inspections-on-biomedical-analysis-market/

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