Drug companies will be able to provide information to the public on prescription drugs but only under strict conditions, according to draft legislation overwhelmingly adopted by the European parliament on 24 November.

The new measures would enable patients in European Union countries to receive data on a drug’s characteristics and the disease or condition for which it is designed. Companies would be allowed to provide basic non-promotional information such as product characteristics in package leaflets and an accessible version of a drug’s assessment report. Patients would be able to receive more specific answers on request. All information would require prior authorisation from national authorities. …