The EU Court of Justice ruled on Thursday 11 June that pharmaceutical companies may distribute samples of medicines free of charge provided that they are not subject to a prescription (Case C-786/18).
This judgment follows a preliminary ruling by the Federal Court of Justice in Germany (Bundesgerichtshof) on the interpretation to be given to the Community code relating to medicinal products for human use (Directive 2001/83/EC). The pharmaceutical company Novartis, which manufactures the...