Pharmacists welcome ruling
2004-12-20 14:08
Pretoria - The Pharmaceutical Society of SA welcomed a Supreme Court of Appeal judgment on Monday which set aside government medicine pricing regulations.
"What the judgement means in effect is that the pricing regulations are no longer in operation," spokesperson Lorraine Osman said. "We believe that the health department will need to revisit the regulations, and we are offering whatever help we can.
"What is needed is the creation of an effective partnership to promptly finalise a set of regulations that are in line with the principles of a transparent pricing system and an appropriate dispensing fee."
The court earlier granted leave to, and simultaneously upheld the appeals of the society, New Clicks SA and six other entities that own pharmacies against a Cape High Court judgment dismissing their application for the scrapping of the regulations.
The bodies challenged the regulations, which sought to control the factory exit price of medicines and restrict pharmacists to a maximum dispensing fee.
The appeal court found that the fixed dispensing fees were inappropriate as they failed to consider the viability of the dispensing industry. It also found that regulations relating to a single exit price introduced a price control mechanism not envisaged by the Medicines and Related Substances Act.
New Clicks, which owns 86 pharmacies, was not immediately available for comment. The health ministry said it would react later on Monday.
- SAPA