Whether Transtec and Morphine were obligatory health-insurance benefits for treatment of somatoform pain disorder.
Yes, the drugs were generally covered as prescribed medicines; blanket denial based on lack of proven efficacy for somatoform pain disorder was not justified.
Although the evidence on opioids for somatoform pain disorders is controversial, the medicines were Swissmedic-approved and listed in the specialities list without limitation. On the facts, pain relief was a permissible treatment goal, and the insurer could not deny coverage merely because the therapy was symptomatic rather than causal.