Over 15,000 pharmacies went on strike last month in Spain after a royal decree was issued which required them to pay to the ministry of health a discount clawback on medicines dispensed at the government's expense.
Effective from August 1, the discount is in proportion to sales, rising from 1.3 per cent at Ptas 75m (£280,000) to 10 per cent at Ptas 500m.
The royal decree also introduced new profit margins for reimbursable prescription medicines and, for the first time in the country, competition among pharmacies on dispensed medicines. Pharmacies are now able to offer discounts of up to 10 per cent for all products not financed by the state health service.
It has been estimated that the decree will probably cause a loss of Ptas 40bn to pharmacists.
Since the issue of the decree, Mr Juan José Palacios (general director of the Spanish Federation of Pharmacists) has announced that about 10,000 pharmacies are to sue the state on an individual basis. He added that they have asked the Spanish parliament, the Spanish ombudsman and the regional governments to appeal against the decree on the ground that it may be unconstitutional.
In the meantime, pharmacists in the Valencia region are to stop dispensing medicines for five minutes on every Tuesday during August. - Xavier Bosch.