By forbidding doctors to prescribe some products legally released into the market, the Polish Chamber of Physicians and Dentists violated the antitrust law. For applying the competition-restricting practice, the President of UOKiK imposed on the Chamber a financial penalty amounting to nearly PLN 50 thousand

The financial sanction of PLN 49,113.89 was imposed on the Polish Chamber of Physicians and Dentists. The President of the Office also ordered the professional association of medical doctors to cease applying the unlawful practice.

The antitrust law prohibits undertakings and the associations of undertakings to apply competition-restricting practices. This means that the interest of the Office of Competition and Consumers Protection may focus on associations, chambers of industry and professional associations.

Since the associations of undertakings typically concentrate many businesses, sometimes even all the providers of certain services on the market, the rules of behaviour they establish, which are consequently applied by their members, may pose a serious threat. This may infringe competition in a substantial part of the market, e.g. eliminate a specific group of products from sale.

That was the case of the professional association of medical doctors, in which the membership is mandatory for the doctors and dentists. The Office had reservations concerning the position of the Chamber, according to which the doctors - for the prescription of homeopathic products available to patients only on prescription – were exposed to disciplinary proceedings. The investigation carried out by UOKiK proved that disciplinary procedure was actually performed against members of the professional association of medical doctors who did not comply with the position.

It should be emphasized that the Office's concern was not the therapeutic properties of homeopathic products. The operation of the Polish Chamber of Physicians and Dentists was examined solely on the basis of antitrust rules. The President of the Office decided that the Polish Chamber of Physicians and Dentists breached the law by restricting competition in the sale of homeopathic products available only on prescription.

“UOKiK is not the party to discussions on the effectiveness of homeopathic products. This issue was not at all subject of our interest. We found that the practice of the Polish Chamber of Physicians and Dentists is a violation of competition by restricting market access to undertakings selling products approved for legal trade, and thus the availability of these products for consumers”, explains the President of UOKiK Małgorzata Krasnodębska-Tomkiel.

Activities of the Chamber could have caused the withdrawal of doctors from prescribing homeopathic products to patients – i.e. those the access to which is only through a doctor, thereby eliminating these products from the market. It is worth noting that these products have been approved for legal sale in Poland, and the only body which can prohibit their circulation is the Office for Registration of Medicinal Products, Medical Devices and Biocidal Products. According to UOKiK, the effects of restrictions imposed by the Chamber under the threat of disciplinary sanctions for doctors were experienced by the undertakings selling homeopathic products on prescription. They had a limited access to the market - despite the fact that they trade in products admitted to the legal market. As a result, the availability of these products to patients was restricted.

The financial sanction of PLN 49,113.89 was imposed on the Polish Chamber of Physicians and Dentists. The President of the Office also ordered the professional association of medical doctors to cease applying the unlawful practice. The decision is not final. It can be appealed against to the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection.

UOKiK’s decision in the case of the Polish Chamber of Physicians and Dentists is the third confirming competition violation by the associations of undertakings in 2011. Other five investigations are still ongoing. The following are accused of the unlawful practice: the Association of Employers in the Utilization Industry, the Polish Tourist Association Branch in Wisła, PTTK Division of Western Sudetes, the Polish Association of Pieniny Rafters and the Polish Federation of Real Estate Managers and Administrators.

Additional information for media:
Małgorzata Cieloch, Spokesperson for UOKiK
Department of International Relations and Communication
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa
Tel. 22 827 28 92, 55 60 314
faks 22 826 11 86
E-mail: malgorzata.cieloch@uokik.gov.pl