Dermatos oppose pharmacy mole examination

Have your moles examined in a pharmacy? The initiative, implemented in three pharmacies of the Pharmabest group, one in Marseille, Alès and Paris, is causing ink to flow among dermatologists. The French Society of Dermatology (SFD), the French Federation for Continuing Education in Dermatovenereology (FFFCEDV) and the College of Dermatology Teachers of France (CEDEF) clearly denounce this initiative which allows pharmacists to take a picture of a mole via a dermascope. The image is then transmitted to a platform to be analyzed by dermatologists. The affected patients receive the diagnosis 15 days later. This pharmacy mole examination costs 28 euros. Unlike conventional consultations with the dermatologist, no coverage by Social Security or mutual insurance is provided. This is partly what annoys dermatologists opposed to this device. “In view of the many skin cancers diagnosed every day by all dermatologists, it is illusory to think that an initiative conceived by a private pharmaceutical group and relying only on a very small number of dermatologists, could have any effect in public health ” , point out the SFD, the FFFCEDV and the CEDEF) in a statement. The scope of this initiative is therefore limited according to the refractories and can even prove to be potentially dangerous. A risk of confusion between melanoma and other suspicious lesions cannot be ruled out, according to critics. “Experience shows that in the vast majority of cases, the diagnosis of melanoma does not result from the examination of a suspicious lesion that the patient has come to show spontaneously, but from a complete examination of the whole body that only a GP or dermatologist are able to do this effectively, ”they add.

An incentive to screen with the dermatologist, according to the SNDV

At the National Union of Dermatologists-Venereologists (SNDV), we welcome the method that we consider, on the contrary, to go in the direction of better screening and better prevention of melanoma development. “It is not a question of diagnosing or of screening, but of giving an opinion on the lesion which worries and, above all, of encouraging people to be screened in a dermatologist’s office,” the vice-president told AFP. from the National Union of Dermatologists-Venereologists (SNDV), Marc Perrussel.

50 pharmacies in France will soon be authorized to offer this exam.

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