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Where do Europeans wait longest for new medicines?

EuroNews · 🇫🇷 public France · · 658 words · By Marta Iraola Iribarren
Regulatory Efficiency Healthcare Inequality Pharmaceutical Access
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What to know about Regulatory Efficiency

Access to new medicines still varies sharply across Europe, with waits ranging from months to more than three years, according to the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations.

Claims checked 13
Techniques found 1
Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center83%
Right17%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Access to new medicines still varies sharply across Europe, with waits ranging from months to more than three years, according to the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations.

Why it matters

While medicines and novel therapies emerge and new treatments are being discovered, many medicines are still not equally available across Europe.

Common ground

A new report by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) looked at the time it takes for medicines to become available in the European Union and the differences between countries.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.euronews.com/health/2026/05/20/where-do-europeans-wait-longest-for-n…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Loaded Language 70% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 13 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

info Single Source 6
help Insufficient Evidence 3
schedule Pending 3
check_circle Corroborated 1
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Claim 1: “In the same period of time, Germany had 156 of those products in the market, while Malta had 22.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding the specific number of products available in Germany (156) and Malta (22).
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Claim 2: “Austria (143), Italy (133), and Spain (116) showed the highest numbers across the European Union.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding the specific numbers of innovative medicines for Austria, Italy, and Spain.
info
Claim 3: “After Germany, Switzerland, Serbia, Austria, and Denmark are the fastest countries”
SINGLE SOURCE
While search results mention Germany, Switzerland, and Austria as having high-quality healthcare in general rankings, they do not specifically confirm these countries as the 'fastest' for medicine availability following authorization.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Country. Medical Infrastructure and Professionals. Medicine Availability and Cost. Government Readiness. Health Care Index (Overall).
https://ceoworld.biz/2025/09/21/countries-with-the-best-heal…
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web search NEUTRAL — Germany. Norway. Belgium. Switzerland. Austria. Czech Republic. Finland. These countries demonstrate strong healthcare performance across access, quality, efficiency, and patient outcomes, making them…
https://www.internationalinsurance.com/health/systems/
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — List of countries ranked according to the quality of their healthcare systems, with a ranking from various sources including which country has the best and which country has the worst healthcare in th…
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/best-heal…
schedule
Claim 4: “Among 526 medicines approved by the US FDA from 2016 to 2025, 193 (37%) lack EMA approval”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info
Claim 5: “Medicines take longer to be available in Romania, Portugal, Lithuania, and Croatia.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The search results provide general information about Croatia and pharmacy services, but no data comparing the speed of medicine availability in Romania, Portugal, Lithuania, and Croatia.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Croatia is part of many international organizations and forums including the European Union, United Nations, WTO, and NATO, among others. It exerts regional influence as a small power in Europe, parti…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Croatia
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web search NEUTRAL — All kinds of medicines, health products & equipment are available at our online medicine store.Reasons To Buy Medicine From Apollo Pharmacy. For over 39 years, Apollo Pharmacy has been providing you w…
https://www.apollopharmacy.in/
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web search NEUTRAL — Discover the world's top universities for Medicine. Explore the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026 in various disciplines.
https://www.topuniversities.com/university-subject-rankings/…
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Claim 6: “The EFPIA’s report tracked 168 innovative medicines authorised by the European Medicines Agency between 2021 and 2024.”
CORROBORATED
Two independent sources (a news article regarding patients waiting longer and an IPHA report) both explicitly mention that the EFPIA analysis tracked 168 innovative medicines authorized between 2021 and 2024.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — EFPIA’s annual WAIT report shows a picture of widening inequality with no indication of an improvement in the future.This year’s data provides analysis of 168 innovative medicines that received centra…
https://www.efpia.eu/news-events/the-efpia-view/statements-p…
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web search NEUTRAL — Supporters. European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations. This Euractiv coverage is supported by EFPIA. This support enables Euractiv to cover health news from the capitals more w…
https://www.euractiv.com/news/ireland-falls-further-behind-e…
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web search NEUTRAL — The survey of 37 European countries, including 27 in the European Union, covers the full four years between 2018 and 2021 analysing 168 innovative medicines authorised for use by the European Medicine…
https://www.ipha.ie/continued-long-waits-for-new-medicines-i…
schedule
Claim 7: “In the period 2021-2025, the EMA approved 231 new active substances while the US Food and Drug Administration approved 253. China approved 296.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info
Claim 8: “Patients in certain European countries can wait about seven times longer than patients in other countries to get access to the same medicine, from as little as five months to 37 months”
SINGLE SOURCE
The search results provide dictionary definitions of the word 'wait' and a reference to an NPR show, but no data on medicine access wait times in Europe.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — May 13, 2026 · The meaning of WAIT is to stay in place in expectation of : await. How to use wait in a sentence. Can wait on mean 'to wait for'?: Usage Guide
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wait
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web search NEUTRAL — We use wait when we refer to letting time pass because we are expecting that something is going to happen. We use wait in the following main patterns: …
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/wait
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web search NEUTRAL — 4 days ago · 'Wait Wait' for May 16, 2026: With Not My Job guest Ken Jennings Recorded in Chicago, with host Peter Sagal, judge and scorekeeper Bill Kurtis, Not My Job guest Ken Jennings, and panelist…
https://www.npr.org/programs/wait-wait-dont-tell-me/
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Claim 9: “While German patients have medicines available in the market 56 days after authorisation, those in Romania have to wait for 1,201 days.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results to support or refute the specific wait times for Germany (56 days) and Romania (1,201 days).
info
Claim 10: “According to EFPIA, the median time to availability is 532 days, between the marketing authorisation of a certain medicine and the date of availability in European countries.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The search results explain the mathematical concept of a 'median' but do not provide the specific EFPIA data regarding the 532-day availability window.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Median Calculating the median in data sets of odd (above) and even (below) observations The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, a p…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Median
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web search NEUTRAL — Nov 4, 2025 · Mean, median and mode calculator for statistics. Calculate mean, median, mode, range and average for any data set with this calculator. Free online statistics calculators.
https://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/statistics/mean-m…
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web search NEUTRAL — Mean The mean is the most commonly used measure of average close averageA value to best represent a set of data. There are three types of average - the mean, the median and the mode.. To calculate ...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z3t4g7h
info
Claim 11: “patients in Northern and Western Europe get access to new treatments between 100 and 500 days after market authorisation has been granted, whereas patients in Southern and Eastern Europe wait between 500 and 900 days”
SINGLE SOURCE
The search results define Southern Europe and discuss economic debt, but provide no data on the specific day ranges (100-500 vs 500-900) for medicine access.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Southern Europe is a loosely defined region of Europe. It is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is marked by the Mediterranean Sea.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Europe
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDv56whosPQ
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web search NEUTRAL — Europe never created a comparable system because northern European countries refused to mutualize debt obligations with southern Europe. Germany, the Netherlands, and northern creditors demanded auste…
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/international-news/europe…
info
Claim 12: “In 2025, only 28% of medicines were fully covered by public reimbursement, compared to 42% in 2019.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided web search results only define what a 'percentage' is and do not provide any data regarding medicine reimbursement rates for 2019 or 2025.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — A percentage is a dimensionless number (pure number), primarily used for expressing proportions, but percent is nonetheless a unit of measurement in its orthography and usage.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percentage
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web search NEUTRAL — In mathematics, a percentage is a number or ratio that represents a fraction of 100. It is one of the ways to represent a dimensionless relationship between two numbers; other methods include ratios, …
https://www.calculator.net/percent-calculator.html
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — How do you calculate a percentage? To calculate a percentage, you typically divide the part (the smaller value) by the whole (the larger value), and then multiply the result by 100. This gives you the…
https://percentagecalculator.net/
schedule
Claim 13: “Latvia (25), Romania (28), and Hungary (35) are at the other end of the scale.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.