Guild responds to APESMA
October 20, 2011
THE Pharmacy Guild has fired
back at allegations by union group
APESMA of pharmacist “kickbacks”
for promoting prescription drugs,
saying they are “totally false”.
The move follows claims by
APESMA published in mainstream
newspapers this week about the
Pfizer “patient support program”
operated by Guild offshoot
healthlinks.net, and comparisons to
the recently ditched Blackmores
‘Companions’ pact with the Guild.
Under the deal pharmacy owners
receive a $7 administration fee for
each patient signed up to the Pfizer
scheme, with alerts provided via
dispensing software when a
suitable candidate is identified.
APESMA claims that the Guild is
“effectively trying to recruit
pharmacists to Pfizer’s marketing
department...patients deserve
individual care from their
pharmacist, not computer programs
designed to bypass that advice,”
said APESMA ceo Chris Walton.
However according to the Guild,
the Pfizer patient support programs
“involve prescription medicines
only - which cannot be dispensed
without the written authority of a
doctor.
“There is no endorsement of the
product involved, and there is no
‘promotion’ of any prescription
medicine to patients.
“The purpose of the Pfizer patient
support programs is to encourage
quality use of important prescription
medicines, and to ensure that
patients take their medicines in
accordance with the doctor’s
prescription,” the Guild added.
Furthermore, the Guild rejected
claims that pharmacists’
professionalism is compromised by
the program saying the comments
were an affront “to all members of
the profession”.
The support programs are free to
the patient (who can opt out at any
time), pharmacists can choose not
to participate, and the fee they are
paid is for their professional time,
the Guild said.
The Guild added that it received
no payment for the program.
“Up to 18 similar programs exist
with pharmaceutical manufacturers
through General Practitioners
where the doctor signs the patient
up on behalf of a manufacturer and
the doctor is paid a professional fee.
“All programs, including Pfizer’s
patient support programs require
written consent from the patient
and patients are aware the
information is going to Pfizer.
“APESMA’s attempt to capitalise
on these claims, and the Blackmores
issue before it, in a bid to boost its
profile to sell memberships, is an
insult to the profession – the people
the union claims to represent,” a
Guild spokesperson said.
Pfizer ceo John Latham also
defended the scheme, saying it
encouraged pharmacists to “step
down from behind the bench” and
discuss the medication and the
support program with the patient.
“I think a $7 fee for the time of
the pharmacist to be able to do
that is not unreasonable,” he said.
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