Guild claim ‘exaggerated’
September 18, 2013
The ABC’s ‘Fact Check’ unit has
concluded that the Pharmacy
Guild’s claim about the impact
of accelerated price disclosure is
exaggerated, saying there is “little
evidence to suggest the impact will
be severe across the industry”.
ABC Fact Check works to
determine the “accuracy of claims
made by politicians, public figures,
advocacy groups and institutions
engaged in the public debate,” and
initiated a probe in response to the
recent campaign which garnered
more than 500,000 signatures on
a petition seeking to save local
pharmacies which are “under
threat” from the further PBS
reforms announced just before the
election was called by former Prime
Minister Kevin Rudd.
The ABC investigation details
how the prices of medicines are
set in Australia, both via the PBS
and in practice due to the ability
of pharmacies to “negotiate with
manufacturers for better prices and
take the difference as profit”.
According to the report, “the
impact of the accelerated reduction
is unlikely to be evenly distributed
among pharmacies,” with those
who have planned ahead and place
less reliance on ‘trading terms’
income from discounted medicines
set to feel less impact.
Terry White Chemists is cited as
saying that smaller independent
and transactional pharmacies are
likely to feel more pressure from
the changes, in contrast to the TWC
Group “which has long understood
that relying on dispensary profits
was unsustainable and as a result
now derives its revenue from a
broad base”.
The ABC Fact Check team
also quoted the University of
Melbourne’s Prof Philip Clarke who
contrasted the Australian system
with that in the UK, where despite
ongoing declines in prices, capped
discounts and significantly cheaper
drugs “the industry appears to be
viable as the number of licences in
England has increased by around
1000 over the last five years”.
The report concludes that with
governments having been seeking
better taxpayer value by moving to
faster price disclosure since 2007,
“this has given time for pharmacies
to adjust, so the accelerated
timetable is unlikely to force wellrun
pharmacies to close their doors
or slash important services”.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 18 Sep 13To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 18 Sep 13