[The decalogue of the post-manual].

On the 1st January the Italian Health Ministry published a new Drug List, where marketed pharmaceutical products had been re-classified by the ad hoc Commission (CUF, Commissione Unica del Farmaco). Drugs were divided in three categories: A. effective drugs (drugs able to prolong life or improve quality of life), provided by the NHS without any charge for the consumer; B. drugs whose therapeutic role is less "critical", and or could be a second option, for which the consumer is expected to pay 50% of the price; C. compounds without any documented efficacy, not reimbursed by the NHS. H. drugs to be prescribed only by the hospital services. One of the key members of CUF proposed a comprehensive evaluation of the work done, which has been seen as a "revolution", with hot debates from all concerned parties (including the strong opposition from the pharmaceutical industry and private pharmacists). Overall, the number of efficacious drugs freely available for the majority of patients has tripled, while the exclusion (into class C) of many (often very expensive) useless drugs is expected to decrease the overall public drug expenditure.