The proposal raises how rules on inducements could affect medicine selection, supply decisions and public procurement.
A new prohibition is at the centre of the bill
The Government has deposited a bill before the Chamber of Deputies that would prohibit incentives, perks or other benefits being given to doctors in exchange for prescribing, dispensing or promoting specific medicines. The measure would change the country’s health-regulation framework and create the Directorate General of Medicines, Food and Health Products, known as Digemaps, as a decentralised body. The proposal was submitted by Digemaps authorities and the Minister of the Presidency, José Ignacio Paliza, to the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Alfredo Pacheco. The source describes a proposal, not a law already in force.
Why the rule matters to medicine purchasing
The proposed restriction is aimed at conduct that can influence which products doctors recommend or use. That has a procurement connection because prescribing and dispensing decisions can affect demand, product selection and the commercial position of competing medicines, even where a purchasing process is conducted separately. In public buying, the transferable principle is that supplier benefits offered to people who shape technical or clinical choices can create a conflict of interest or undermine confidence in a fair specification. The measure described here would regulate that conduct rather than set out a tender method.
Digemaps would have a stronger enforcement role
The bill would establish Digemaps as a decentralised regulatory authority and classify the prohibited practice as a very serious infringement. Its proposed consequences include fines of up to 400 minimum wages, cancellation of health registrations and the definitive closure of establishments. Those sanctions would reach beyond an individual interaction with a doctor and could affect a company’s ability to market or operate in the health-products sector. The source does not say that any company or doctor has been found to have breached the proposed rule, nor does it describe the bill’s further legislative stages.
IN NUMBERS
For businesses supplying medicines and for public bodies buying them, the proposal highlights the boundary between legitimate promotion and benefits linked to professional influence. Until the Chamber of Deputies considers and adopts the measure, the restrictions and sanctions remain proposed rather than operative.
Reported from diariolibre.com, 2026-10-07. The Tender Wire is published by Otnox.
