Pharmacy Daily | Poll shows public backs deregulation

AN ONGOING News Corp poll is showing a public appetite for reforms of the Pharmacy Location Rules in the wake of repeated claims that regional pharmacies are charging up to three-times more than discounters.

The poll featured in an article across News Corp's tabloid websites attacking the location rules showed 80% of respondents wanted to see them overturned to increase the opportunity for discount pharmacies to open in regional areas - at the time of publication.

The article cited data from a survey conducted by Chemist Warehouse in 18 regional NSW towns, reporting that 57% of people had travelled to another town to access medicines from a discount pharmacy, and follows a similar poll in Victoria, which reported patients were being charged up to three-times the price for prescription in rural pharmacies than in metropolitan discount stores.

Melbourne Business School, Dean, Professor Ian Harper - the author of the 2015 Competition Policy Review - told News Corp "the location rules are not in the interests of consumers".

Responding to the article, a spokesperson for the Pharmacy Guild of Australia noted that Harper had assisted in the preparation of Chemist Warehouse's submission to the King Review of Pharmacy, calling for the abolition of the location rules, while a consultant for Deloitte Access Economics.

However, Professor Stephen King, rejected the recommendation in his 2016 report, saying evidence showed there was an inconsistent spread of pharmacies in regional areas prior to the introduction of the Location Rules in 1991.

"[The 1988 Pharmaceutical Benefits Remuneration Tribunal] found that many pharmacies in urban areas were clustered together with rural and remote areas having significantly poorer access," he said.

"In some cases pharmacies were located within 10 metres of each other, 25% of pharmacies were within 100 metres of another pharmacy and 62% were within one kilometre of another pharmacy, while other areas struggled to attract even one."

King said the introduction of the Location Rules resulted in a restructuring of the sector that encouraged greater efficiency within the sector and led to the opening of pharmacies in areas of need.

Meanwhile, Medici Capital Managing Director, Frank Sirianni, warned moves to deregulate the industry could come at a cost to patients and the economy (PD yesterday).