CHF ceo slams pharmacy
September 6, 2013
Consumers Health Forum of
Australia ceo Carol Bennett has
continued the CHF’s campaign
opposing the Pharmacy Guild push
for price disclosure compensation,
with an opinion piece published in
the Newcastle Herald yesterday.
Bennett gives a detailed
explanation of how PBS reforms
aim to ensure taxpayers “benefit
from the plunge in the global prices
of many medicines”.
“Despite this reduction, many
pharmacy owners, despite buying
these medicines at prices well
below the PBS subsidy paid by
the government, have kept their
prices near the old level...this has
enabled them to continue to make
significant profits at the expense of
consumers and taxpayers,” she said.
“CHF supports strong and
effective pharmacies, but does not
believe the strength of pharmacies
should be based on inflated
medicine prices for consumers and
taxpayers,” she added.
Bennett said that some pharmacy
owners have argued that the public
gets good value for money because
of services pharmacies perform “for
free” such as emergency scripts,
making deliveries, administering
methadone and counselling.
While the CHF agrees that many
pharmacists do good for their
community, “such arguments tend
to confuse public good with public
finance,” she wrote.
Bennett’s article cites the example
of atorvastatin which can cost
pharmacists just $5 per packet in
its generic form, despite its PBS
“official” price of around $52.
“Indefensible, artificially high
prices for medicines damage
the reputation of the pharmacy
profession and erode the
community’s trust,” she said.
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