MPs are currently considering the anti-waste bill. One proposal is particularly debated: the sale of drugs by the unit.
The distribution of drugs could be transformed: pharmacists may dispense them individually in the future. An amendment on this subject is being discussed in the National Assembly, within the framework of the bill against waste. Its application should first concern antibiotics.
10% less medicine
In 2017, Emmanuel Macron undertook to develop the sale of single drugs during a meeting in Nevers in order to make “intelligent savings”. Between 2013 and 2017, four French regions experimented with the measure. Inserm estimates that this has made it possible to reduce the volume of drugs distributed by 10% and to improve the follow-up of prescriptions by patients, in the case of antibiotics. In 2013, the Minister of Health Marisol Touraine estimated that the French kept 1.5 kilos of unused medicines in their homes.
The amendment presented to the National Assembly highlights the interest of the measure in reducing the waste of medicines but also in reducing the use of plastics and other packaging materials, which are not always recycled. “The medicines concerned by this possibility will initially be limited to a few antibiotics, for which the interest of unit dispensing is the most obvious”, proposes the text. It will be up to the pharmacist to decide how the drugs are dispensed.
A measure that divides
According to Eric Baseilhac, director of economic affairs of Leem, the professional organization of pharmaceutical laboratories, the measure will not be effective. “There is no wastage of medicines because there would be too many tablets in each of the boxes that are delivered to you at the pharmacy, he explains in a video, there is a waste of drugs because we stop our treatments too soon!” It points out the risks associated with handling medications. An opinion shared by health economist Claude Le Pen, interviewed by Why Doctor in 2013: “there is a risk of confusion because the packaging of the medicine by unit does not make the difference for the patient, he explained, the risk is the same for the pharmacist (…). These errors that are possible can be dramatic for the health of patients”. According to Leem, the right prescription should be given priority and patients should be better supported in monitoring their treatment.
AT France info, Yorick Berger, of the Paris Chamber of Pharmacists, confides his doubts as to the effectiveness of such a measure. “In my opinion, this is a false good idea since the majority of treatments are chronic treatments, that is to say that the patient will use them throughout his life, he analyzes . So, if we give it to the unit, no interest since the following month it will take some, so the box will be finished the following month anyway.
Nearly 50 boxes of medicine for a French person each year
The measure is expected to come into force no later than January 1, 2022. According to the National Medicines Safety Agencyeach French person consumed around 48 boxes of medicine in 2013. Each year, more than three billion boxes are sold.
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