Guild supply assurance
March 20, 2012
THE Pharmacy Guild says the
industry is working together to
ensure ongoing PBS medicine
availability, in response to several
media reports about possible short
supply as pharmacies prepare for
the PBS price cuts on 01 April.
In a statement issued yesterday,
the Guild said the largest set of
reductions in the history of the PBS
has created stock management
challenges for all pharmacies,
wholesalers and manufacturers.
However “many pharmaceutical
companies - including some
branded medicine manufacturers
and virtually every generic
medicine company - have risen to
the challenge and reduced their
prices in the supply chain well
ahead of 1 April, to avoid any
supply disruption,” the Guild said.
“This will ensure that at least a
generic version of the around 70
molecules affected by the price
drops will have uninterrupted
supply,” the statement added.
Without this action community
pharmacies would have been under
more pressure to minimise stock of
some products to avoid a major,
overnight loss of stock value.
Notwithstanding the stock
management issues, the Guild said
that community pharmacies will
always comply with the legislative
requirement that “an approved
pharmacist must, as far as
practicable, keep in stock an
adequate supply of all drugs and
medicinal preparations that he or
she may reasonably be expected to
be called on to supply as
pharmaceutical benefits” - see p2.
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