Therapy freedom explained

Therapy freedom is the freedom of physicians to apply whichever therapy their medical knowledge makes them believe to be appropriate.^[1] That often means:

1. Physician have the legal right to prescribe an unlicensed drug.
2. A health insurance company is obliged to pay for the treatment, regardless of whether or not it considers the treatment to be appropriate.^[2]

Therapy freedom, however, is limited to cases of no treatment existing that is both well-established and more efficacious.

Therapy freedom is established in Germany, where it is known as Therapiefreiheit.

Notes and References

1. Book: Schepers . R . Larkin . G . Saks . M . etal . Health Professions and the State in Europe . 2005 . Taylor & Francis . 9781134844524 . 94 . 17 February 2024 . The Belgian medical profession since the 1980s: dominance and decline.
2. Wienke . A . Therapiefreiheit contra Wirtschaftlichkeitsgebot . HNO . September 2001 . 49 . 9 . 762-3 . 10.1007/s001060170051 . 11593781 . 17 February 2024 . Therapeutic freedom versus scientific mandatory cost saving . Springer Verlag . Berlin . German.