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The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 264 No 7098 p789
May 27, 2000 News

RPM hearing to start on October 2

The case to consider whether resale price maintenance should continue on medicines will begin at the Restrictive Practices Court on October 2.
The judge who will hear the case (Mr Justice Lightman) recently rejected an application from the Community Pharmacy Action Group to have the case delayed because of the volume of work created by the Office of Fair Trading's recent request for more information. The judge rejected the application because of the public importance of the case.
According to the CPAG, the case will begin with a two week reading period, during which the judge and his two lay assessors will read the evidence for themselves.
The oral hearing stage will begin on October 16 and is expected to take up to 30 days. CPAG says that judgment is unlikely to be given until January, 2001.

Key arguments for the RPM case

The key arguments to be advanced by the Community Pharmacy Action Group (CPAG) and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) are given below.

CPAG

RPM should continue because abolition would lead to:

  • Substantial reduction in the variety of over-the-counter goods available
  • The closure of a substantial proportion of independent retailers and many traditional pharmacies
  • Price increases for branded OTC medicines
  • Substantial reduction in the availability of advice and services connected with the sale of branded products

OFT

RPM should be abolished because:

  • The OTC market is large and growing
  • Powerful, leading brands with high market shares in both high and low volume areas tend to be intensively advertised
  • Manufacturers, suppliers and retailers individually and collectively, derive unjustified benefit (higher prices and margins) at the public expense
  • It reduces retailing innovation to the public's disadvantage