SMH slams Pharmacy Guild
March 22, 2012
THE Pharmacy Guild has reacted
strongly to a front page article in
today’s Sydney Morning Herald,
with spokesman Greg Turnbull
saying the story “reveals a gross
misunderstanding of the PBS and of
the price disclosure mechanism”.
The story accuses pharmacists of
using a “loophole” in the PBS
reforms to boost their profits, citing
a Guild communication which urges
pharmacists to make deals with
suppliers immediately after drugs
lose their patent protection to lock
in discounts “while still receiving
government reimbursement at
artificially high rates”.
Turnbull said the “fact sheet” was
actually published last September
to help pharmacists and staff
understand the 01 April reforms.
“Far from being a clandestine
document it was distributed
widely... in fact the Guild is happy
for pharmacists to use the fact
sheet to respond to any patient
queries regarding this misleading
article designed to alarm patients.
“Through the price disclosure
mechanism, which the SMH clearly
does not understand, introductory
prices offered to pharmacists by
generic manufacturers will flow
through to savings to the
Government,” Turnbull added.
The newspaper has highlighted
that the fact sheet was produced
with the assistance of Ranbaxy, and
claims that it “shows pharmacists
how they can manipulate
government price controls”.
However the Guild says the
offering of trading terms when
generic alternatives enter a market
is a normal commercial process,
and pointed out a comment by a
Health Department spokesman
who said bulk buying in the first
month “rarely occurred”.
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