STOCKHOLM The Swedish government is readying a law under which pharmacies would have to sell cheaper, generic versions of drugs to customers unless a doctor specifically requests a more expensive drug.

The draft law is now prepared by the Ministry for Social Affairs and will be sent to the parliamentary Health Committee in late November, Reuters quoted government spokesman Anders Teljeback as saying on Tuesday.

"If the doctor has not checked a box on the prescription prohibiting this, patients will automatically be given a cheaper version", Teljeback said.

The drug, which would have priority in pharmacy sales, would have to be cheaper and have the same effect as the more expensive brand prescribed by the doctor, the proposal said.

The draft, if it becomes a law, could mean trouble for large pharmaceutical companies such as Astrazeneca, whose best-selling prescription ulcer treatment drug Losec is already facing tough generic competition in Sweden.

If approved, the law would come into effect on July 1, 2002.