The Competition Authority advocates the end of the pharmacies monopoly for non-reimbursable drugs. The Order of Pharmacists opposes it in the name of patient safety.
Medicines soon on sale in our supermarkets? Even if the subject is still debated, this is what the Competition Authority is proposing this Thursday, which advocates the end of the pharmaceutical monopoly for non-reimbursable drugs. A breach in the monopoly would allow “consumers to benefit from more attractive prices for their purchases of self-medication”, assure these competition experts. However, “it is the safety of the patient which is at stake, but also the survival of a profession”, indicates Isabelle Adenot, President of the National Council of the Order of Pharmacists in why actor.
The pharmaceutical circuit: a guarantee of safety for the patient
Isabelle Adenot : The drug is not a product like any other. You have to be really careful about its proper use. And pharmacists are the drug specialists. In addition, thehe pharmaceutical circuit offers safety guarantees for the public. Among them, the Odre verifies that pharmacists follow their compulsory continuing education every year. In addition, health authorities inspect pharmacies. You don’t get a drugstore by painting the shelves of a supermarket.
The announced end of promixity shops
Isabelle Adenot: With the end of the monopoly, what does the public gain and what does it lose? If we break the monopoly, there will simply be fewer pharmacies. We can clearly see what supermarkets have done on local shops. Gasoline pumps have disappeared as well as other businesses. If we want pharmacies to disappear, we are going in the right direction.
Bankruptcy for an entire profession
Isabelle Adenot : Today, every three days, a pharmacy closes. Large accounting firms are saying that in a few days you will have two out of three pharmacies that are overdrawn in terms of their cash flow. Finally, 25% of young people no longer want to become a pharmacist when they have just spent seven difficult years of study to obtain their diploma. At one point we can see that the question that will arise is the following: will there remain pharmacists?
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