Report ‘just plain wrong’
August 15, 2013
THE Pharmacy Guild says a News
Limited story yesterday about a
“secret additional charge” being
imposed by pharmacists on PBS
medications is “an outrageous slur
on Australia’s 5,200 community
pharmacies”.
The report, by Sue Dunlevy,
claimed consumers are “missing
out” on PBS price cuts because of
the charge which pharmacists can
optionally apply if the cost of a
drug is lower than the government
mandated maximum allowable price.
“This is just plain wrong, and
shows a deliberately misleading
prejudice against community
pharmacists who deliver vital
professional services to millions of
Australian health care consumers,”
the Guild said in a statement.
Rather than being a “secret
additional charge” as described by
Dunlevy, the fees charged are part
of a system which has been in place
for more than two decades.
“Pharmacists do not set the price
of medicines,” the Guild said, with
the government-set pricing publicly
available at www.pbs.gov.au
showing the lawful maximum price
that pharmacists can charge.
“Pharmacy is a highly regulated
industry and this protects
consumers,” the Guild said, with
the PBS ensuring that no matter
where patients buy medicines the
maximum price payable is the same.
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