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The amendments to the Pharmacy Law proposed the establishment of state pharmacies not only in hospitals but also in polyclinics and dispensaries. In addition, they could sell drugs not only to those receiving treatment at that health center, but also to other residents.
Such pharmacies, as indicated in the amendments, would be called hospital pharmacies and would also sell drugs remotely. These pharmacies could be established as of January 2021.
Even before the morning session of the Seimas on Tuesday, the leader of the “peasant” faction Ramūnas Karbauskis declared that such pharmacies will help increase competition and create a greater opportunity for the population to buy medicines.
“The institutions will not have to have such pharmacies, it will be the choice of each institution, we want to give it a chance,” the politician emphasized.
It is true that representatives of the opposition have said that if such amendments to the law are approved, the president will be asked to veto them, and the opposition will also turn to the Constitutional Court and the European Commission.
At the beginning of the Seimas Oriental session, Eugenijus Gentvilas and Jurgis Razma, on behalf of the factions, proposed removing the adoption of amendments to the Pharmacy Law from the agenda, but the Seimas did not support such a proposal.
During the meeting, Jurgis Razma stated that he did not support the establishment of such pharmacies in principle, but emphasized that if such pharmacies were established, his proposal was that they would operate only when there were no operating pharmacies in the city. The Seimas rejected the proposal. J. Razma also suggested that such pharmacies could not trade remotely, but the Seimas did not support the proposal.
Jonas Liesys also proposed that amendments to the bill go into effect in January 2023, but this proposal was also rejected.
Seimas member Mykolas Majauskas spoke out against the establishment of such pharmacies.
“We have to ask ourselves, what objective do we pursue? Because of these discussions, it is not clear.
If the goal is to reduce the cost of drugs, let’s face it, there are much easier ways to achieve it and see a clear result. This requires financing and compensation. But instead it offers a state-owned bank, state-owned pharmacies, a dearth of state-owned stores and lots, and we’ll be back where we haven’t gotten rid of that. Don’t vote for wheat, ”he said.
Valius Oak spoke in favor of such pharmacies.
Come to Akmenė, come to other districts. The nearest pharmacy is 50-70 km away. So do you suggest to people every time you go to buy drugs so much? We only make it possible for people to buy those drugs. Nowadays, people go to hospitals and borrow these drugs, ”said V. Ąžuolas.
As announced by the BNS, the management believes that the establishment of state pharmacies will improve the availability of drugs, increase competition and reduce the price of drugs. At that time, the opposition, on the contrary, assures that the competition will diminish, the funds of the health system will be wasted.
The approval of such amendments was scheduled for last week, but seeing that the governors may lack votes, R. Karbauskis said that the vote will take place when it is clear that there will be enough votes to approve the amendments.
I don’t think it helps lower prices
In a comment posted by Nemunas Pharmacy, which runs the Camelia pharmacy chain Aušra Budrikienė, Delfi said that until it is known how the idea of state pharmacies will be implemented, it is difficult to unambiguously evaluate these plans. According to her, if the public pharmacy network were subject to the same requirements as private pharmacies, then there would be no problem for a new competitor.
However, public pharmacies are not expected to help reduce drug prices.
“I really doubt that the state pharmacy network will help reduce the price of drugs. First of all, drug prices are still regulated: the state sets limits on both wholesale and retail margins, and the strong Competition in the market means that pharmacies in many cases charge lower margins. It is true that most of the final price of drugs is the manufacturer’s price, which so far is the only component of the price of drugs that is not regulated For the state.
Creating a strong network of public pharmacies would require significant investments that are unlikely to have the expected effect. If the state network of pharmacies operated for economic benefits like other market participants, then the impact on drug prices would be minimal or non-existent, since the market is still very competitive ”, comments A. Budrikienė.
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