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After the parliamentary vote, the “peasant” Rima Baškienė, who chaired the session, declared: “Unfortunately, the law has not been passed. We will look forward to visibly better times when there are more Seimas members in the room. “
However, A.Veryga reiterated that “there will be nothing here”: that there really are not enough votes for the adoption of a law in the Seimas.
“The arguments are, to put it mildly, funny. Consider pharmacies as the kind of store or warehouse the state is interfering with here. When the state is the founder of hospitals, dental services. I have no idea why the only sector, pharmacies, has left this system and cannot fully participate in it. And this has absolutely become a kind of trade entirely, ”the minister told reporters after the vote in the Seimas.
Governors, he said, believe that pharmacies should provide more medical care: vaccinating, evaluating tests, and the like.
“Unfortunately, there is no such support and I don’t think Seimas can accept this term. <…> If I do it sincerely, I really have no hope that this Seimas will do that, “lamented A. Veryga.
Members of the opposition Liberal Movement, the factions of the Lithuanian Christian National-Democratic Union did not participate in the vote on the establishment of state pharmacies. In addition, the majority of the members of the Joint Group of members of the Seimas and the faction of the Lithuanian Social Democratic Party.
Of the Social Democrats, only Bronius Bradauskas voted in favor. In this way, all the rulers voted unanimously: “peasants”, “social workers” and the Polish electoral campaign-Christian Union of Families.
Photo by Sigismund Gedvila / 15min / Family
When evaluating the results of the vote, Povilas Urbšys, a member of the Joint Group of Members of the Seimas, affirmed that “the roof of the private pharmacies in the Seimas is really sustainable”.
“We can really congratulate the private pharmacy party on the victory. Bravo, “he said.
The politician explained that the legalization of state pharmacies would be in the public interest and would provide more options.
Liberal Eugenijus Gentvilas, for his part, said the changes would lead to less competition.
“I am afraid that the state pharmacy network will start buying private pharmacies, thus reducing competition in the market.” I want to emphasize that competition in the market today is enough, there are twice as many pharmacies in Lithuania as in the European Union on average ”, taught the member of Seimas and discussed to what extent this is in line with the Constitution.
“I perfectly understand the constant position of the right, they try to get the state out of the market, not enter the market, they don’t see market failures; the position is understandable, it’s valuable. But what the Lithuanian Social Democrats are doing in that company is not clear to me, “said Tomas Tomilinas, a” peasant, “but the Social Democrats did not respond to his answer.
Aušrinė Armonaitė, a member of parliament who works in a mixed group of members of the Seimas, stated that the amendments on the establishment of state pharmacies in the Chamber were rejected as “obstacles”.
“It is eloquent that the Health Committee did not support this project, it is eloquent that the Law and Order Committee, whose competence is quite different anyway, is now pushing this state business project with their heads. Against ”, said the politician.
What is telling is that the Health Commission did not support this project.
In response to the speeches, the Minister of Health, “peasant” Aurelijus Veryga, asked if it was appropriate to compare pharmacies with stores.
“If we think that a pharmacy is just a warehouse or a store, then there is no need for pharmacists, there is no need for them in hospitals, it is just a business. But I am very sorry to hear such arguments, because we must listen to pharmacists’ arguments that it should also be a place of medical care and should be returned to the health system, “the minister commented, adding that the pharmacies that now operate in hospitals do not They can sell medicines All residents are discriminated against in relation to individuals.
Sigismund Gedvila / 15min photo / Seimas sitting
In adopting the reforms to the Pharmacy Law, the Seimas also considered the proposals of several parliamentarians: the conservative Jurgis Razma proposed allowing the sale of drugs to residents of pharmacies established in hospitals only at night, when at that time there there are individuals. The Seimas did not even consider this proposal.
Razma also proposed not allowing state pharmacies to sell online, and his opposition counterpart, liberal Jonas Liesys, called for the amendments to be postponed for two years. The Seimas did not approve these initiatives by majority vote.
In the opinion of the Legal Department, the establishment of state pharmacies is “in principle incompatible with the system of entities conducting general pharmaceutical activities in Lithuania”.
Furthermore, in the opinion of Seimas lawyers, it would be worth considering whether changes that would allow state entities to participate in the existing pharmaceutical market under different (better) conditions than those of private entities are proportionate and necessary.
“It is necessary to consider whether such state-funded institutions maintain institutions that <...> would participate in pharmaceutical activities and provide pharmaceutical services to an indefinite population, it would not be in a better position than private legal entities that do not receive any state funding in the course of pharmaceutical activities, “said the Legal Department in the conclusion.
His arguments were rejected by the Public Order Commission, which considered amendments to the law: that the proposal to allow hospital pharmacies to sell drugs to the population “is in the public interest.”
“The entry into force of the project is expected to especially improve the availability of the cheapest prescription drugs for the outpatient population,” the Seimas Public Order Committee stated in the conclusion.
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