Pharmacy leaders demand legal action to end shortages burden

There is a lot of noise about this but nothing seems to be done.

I had Pfizer coming to check my stock usage which I had no problems with allowed them access to my computer to run a stock usage report, but then the person demanded to see the Prescriptions and name of the patients receiving the prescriptions and how many packs?

I refused to divulge this information citing Patient Confidentiality and Data Protection Act and that what they were asking me was illegal.

The monitoring person then left in a huff saying that I am not Co-operating and that it will affect my stock allocation!! How do you tackle such behaviour by Big Pharma?

The whole situation is out of control. Surely there is something in the EU Law about free movement of goods and trading.

Is it only me or do other people feel the same that we as pharmacists are getting the blame for so called "dark parallel trade" in medicines.

Is this not a perfectly legal trade within a free European market that the government and MEP's are suggesting is fundament to the EEC. I feel it is basic economics that if you keep large price differentials within a free open market then products will tranfer within that market, and anyone trying to stop that movement will appear a little like King Canute with the tide.

Surely, this argument is one that the manufacturers need to be having with the MEPs within Europe to justify why they beleive that the market in Europe needs restricting and allows these price differentials to remain.

If they can win their arguments with the elected MEP's who are paid to make these decisions then we can see a legal restriction on the movement of medicines within Europe and i beleive the majority of pharmacists will pull out of the trade.

Those of us who have never been involved in export can then get back to our job of supplying products to our patients in a prompt and efficient manner, before someone gets killed with the current unhappy situation.


Disgruntled from Devon (Superintendent)

Alan Robinson Superintendent

I wholeheartedly agree. We have had a patient come in every day for a week before we were able to supply him sildenafil. Pfizer are the biggest and most unhelpful culprit. I have never exported nor sold to an exporter. This is out of all proportion. The imposed quotas do not cater for variations in normal demand.

West Sussex

I also agree with the comments above.

My main gripe at the moment is Azopt eye drops. My quota is 5 per month, but usage over the last year is at least 10 per month.
I have asked for the quota to be increased on at least 4 occasions, but just get a number of packs, without the issue being resolved.

it seems that PIs into the UK are OK, but the reverse is not.
It cannot be illegal, unethical or immoral to export from the UK to the EU.

And why is that I can get PIs of some products that are in short supply?

It definitely needs sorting. It is getting worse.

The fact remains, that Big Pharma quite rightly have the moral ground on trying to protect THEIR product. What is incredulous is that pharmacy groups try to hide this practice. Everyone knows all the large independent groups are siphoning inventory and hence playing an equal part that affects contractors who genuinely need stock to supply UK patients.

How else do you explain large independent groups being so profitable in a negative economic environment.

There is no sympathy for those pharmacy contractors crying foul, when they are to be equally blamed for this sad fiasco. It takes two to tango, and we know which pharmacies are dancing with Big Pharma!

Bindu, thanks for your comment. Would you be willing to share more details with C+D regarding this please? If so, you can reach us on haveyoursay@chemistanddruggist.co.uk and we can discuss this incident further.

Thanks

Not interested in Rajives reply regarding pharmacy contractors "when they are to be equally blamed for this fiasco"?
And in reply to Peter - I would think it was immoral to ACTIVELY CHOOSE to make a bit of extra profit on a pack, when you know it will exacerbate the situation and put patients at risk - and its not just large independent groups

I do find the coverage here very one sided, with no actual detail on how to solve the problems and almost no acceptance of the fact that if some pharmacists were not aggregating medicines for additional profit, there would be no issues bar the odd missed delivery or manufacturing problem. (obviously its not quite that simple but it is absolutely true)