Pharmacists are up against the proposal to open the sale of drugs to medium and large surfaces. They are once again expressing their concern.
Medication in supermarkets is no. Another organization for the defense of pharmacists protests against the proposal of the Minister of the Economy Arnaud Montebourg. This time it is the National Collective of Community Pharmacists’ Groups (CNGPO) which protests and brings other arguments to the debate.
A “discriminating” measure
In the eyes of the CNGPO, opening up the sale of drugs to supermarkets harms consumers. A major culprit is identified: the purchasing centers of large-scale distribution groups. If the principle is already used in pharmacies, in order to serve a large network of pharmacies, it would be “discriminating” in supermarkets, judges the Collective. “These pharmaceutical purchasing centers serve all pharmacies regardless of their location, urban or rural, which constitutes the excellence of the local pharmaceutical network. However, it is clear that the jewelry, parapharmacy … spaces of the GMS (large or medium surface, editor’s note) are only set up in very large surfaces, that is to say mainly in urban areas ”, analysis Pascal Louis, president of CNGPO. “Why would it be any different for drugs? “
An “irreproachable” territorial network
Received by Arnaud Montebourg on July 30, the Federation of community pharmacists (FSPF) also tried to convince him not to end their monopoly. She believes that drugs, even non-reimbursable, are not a “commodity commodity”. The Confederation of French Doctors’ Unions (CSMF) makes the same observation: “such recommendations are unacceptable because they endanger the health of patients. These are neither sweets nor peas, but drugs containing active ingredients with customary precautions and health risks, including when it comes to paracetamol or aspirin. “
To defend its monopoly, the FSPF argued that drug prices are among the cheapest in Europe. Arnaud Montebourg’s argument, to lower prices, would therefore be null and void. Not to mention that competition from supermarkets is highly likely to harm the territorial distribution of pharmacies, guaranteeing “access to care at all points of the territory”, according to the FSPF. A point supported by the CNGPO: “Let us not forget either that the sale of drugs in supermarkets also and above all raises the question of access to healthcare for all and that of the security of the drug distribution network, up to impeccable present. Pascal Louis hopes to settle the question “in August”, during a meeting with the Minister of the Economy.
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