The Constitutional Court (CC) suspended provisions of the Law on Medicines that supplement and amend Article 61 “National Catalogue of Prices”. The decision was passed following a challenge submitted by a group of MPs of the Democratic Party, IPN reports.

The MPs requested the Court to verify the constitutionality of Law No. 236 of December 16, 2020 for the amendment of a number of legal acts and Law No. 240 of December 16, 2020 for the amendment of a number of legal acts. They argued the implementation of the challenged provisions as of January 1, 2021 is likely to lead to an inevitable rise in the prices of most of the medicines available on the pharmaceutical market.

As to the request to suspend the effect of article I point 3 of Law No. 240 of December 16, 2020, the Court held that if the effect is not suspended, the challenged provisions could affect the prices of drugs. Also, the suspension of the effect of this article will remove from the focus the problem regarding the consequences generated based on legal provisions that can be declared unconstitutional.

The Court noted the suspension solution is necessary in order to avoid damage and imminent negative consequences for the basic human rights and freedoms, in particular the right to health protection that is guaranteed by the Constitution.

The CC suspended the effect of article I point 3 of Law No. 240 of December 16, 2020 until the case is definitely solved. The given decision is definitive, cannot be challenged, takes effect when it is adopted and is published in the Official Gazette.