Spanish government appeals against new law on generics in Galicia that is set to save €93m a year

The Spanish government and a drug industry group have brought legal proceedings against the regional government in Galicia, which in December approved a law to limit prescribing of branded drugs. The new law could save the region €93m (£78m; $125m) each year, the regional government says.

The new law in the autonomous region of Galicia, which has a population of around 2.8 million, has been in force since January. It restricts the prescription of 427 branded drugs that contain 34 active ingredients, forcing doctors to prescribe the generic versions instead.

Doctors in Galicia write 250 000 prescriptions every day, about 40 000 of which are for drugs included in the banned list. The head of the regional health department in Galicia, Pilar Farjas, of the conservative Popular …