Pharmacy Daily | Strong Audit reaction

PHARMACY peak bodies have roundly rejected the recommendations in the Commission of Audit report released last week (PD 02 May). The Generic Medicines Industry Association (GMiA) said it was “madness” to consider overhauling a system that had already driven savings and was designed to produce more. The organisation said prices quoted in the report were out of date, and statements that spending on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme were out of control were untrue, with chairman Mark Crotty calling on the government to reject the “scorched earth” approach. Professional Pharmacists Australia (PPA) said supermarkets were effectively already in pharmacy, thanks to discount pharmacy chains. President Geoff March said Chemist Warehouse had brought a discount approach to the pharmacy sector, a change which had occurred under current ownership and location rules. The future lay in moving way from relying on remuneration-based price of drugs and towards clinical care, and the regulatory reform that allowed this, March said. The Australian Self Medication Industry (ASMI) said consensus was lacking as to how to build a sustainable healthcare system, as alternatives, such as an approach which encouraged consumers to take more responsibility for their own health, had not been considered. The Medicines Partnership of Australia has said the recommendations would see the dismantling of a “safe, sustainable and effective” system. It said if adopted, the recommendations would limit access to medicines due to the funding envelope, increase the cost of medicines for consumers through increasing the co-payments and “decimate” the pharmacy sector by removing ownership and location rules. The report ignored the shortcomings of New Zealand’s tendering system, it said.

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