The brisk and complex development of the pharmaceutical sector compels the State to take the responsibility of guaranteeing the society an adequate use of drugs, and that the products marketed should have, above anything else, two attributes: they should be useful (effective, in compliance with the use anticipated) and safe (that side effects should not pose a serious health hazard).
This State responsibility may not be delegated and is becoming increasingly significant as the world of drugs becomes more complex and its products are more and more powerful, and therefore more risky. Exercising its commitment to protect the consumer4, the State should put into practice a technical process for the evaluation of products applying for marketing approval. As part of this evaluation, the extent of the need to market each new product should be analyzed versus all known and marketed alternatives, by applying to a larger or lesser degree, and according to each government's policy the principle of necessity. It makes no sense to authorize products that, for example, being a lot more expensive, do not show obvious advantages over the products already known.
4 And society as a whole, since the risk posed by a drug often transcends individual use and affects the community as a whole; such is the case, for example, of antibiotics resistance.