Rare Diseases, Cross-Border Healthcare and Fundamental Rights: Improving Patient Protection through the Charter.

In the EU rules on the right to reimbursement of cross-border healthcare, no specific or additional protection is provided to patients with rare diseases. This approach is inconsistent with other EU measures in the field of rare diseases, such as the Orphan Medicinal Products Regulation. This "gap" in legal protection should be filled by relying on the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The CJEU has developed a non-discrimination "frame" for cross-border healthcare cases in A v Veselības Ministrija, which should be applied to patients with rare diseases. This means that, to avoid discrimination on the ground of disability, additional protection mechanisms should be developed for patients with rare diseases in the procedure for requesting prior authorisation of cross-border medical treatment. Patients can rely on these mechanisms throughout the procedure for prior authorisation.