The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 279 No 7460 p43
14 July 2007

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• White Paper
• Pfizer (2)
• Supervision (2)
• Community pharmacy (2)
• Antimicrobials
• Dispensing errors
• Recalls
• Onlooker
• CPPE
• Recycling
• Retention fee

Letters to the Editor

Pfizer

How is this system legal?

From Mr P. Walton, MRPharmS

I have read, with interest, the allegations and counter allegations regarding the Pfizer supply system. The one thing that is clear to me is that any pharmacy that cannot genuinely supply a product because of rationing will be harmed. This will not just be at that particular supply point, but if patients have difficulties they will find other pharmacies that can readily supply, and therefore the damage could be long lasting or permanent. If patients do look for other pharmacies then it would be a fair bet that there will be an Alliance Boots or UniChem-owned pharmacy in the neighbourhood willing and able to accept all prescriptions without problems.

If any pharmacy could afford to take these giants in the pharmacy sector to court the damage would already be entrenched by the time a settlement was reached. I will never understand how such a supply system is deemed to be legal.

Philip Walton
Manchester 

More in sorrow than in anger

From Mr G. S. Phillips, MRPharmS

In the recent past, as a primary care organisation prescribing lead, I was instrumental in persuading the local health economy to work collaboratively with the pharmaceutical industry to support our prescribing incentive scheme, to improve the quality of our prescribing and benefit some public health aspects of our work. To cut a long story short, my strategy proved effective and we both contained our prescribing within budget and achieved significant gains in the quality of our prescribing.

At that time, persuading the local prescribing advisers and the health authority that the pharmaceutical industry are partners in health care and not some kind of “enemy” to be treated with distrust and disrespect was the hardest part.

So it saddens me now, when community pharmacists are playing increasingly clinical roles, evidenced by the new contract, the development of pharmacists with special interests and the introduction of independent prescribing, to see parts of the industry doing everything they can to undermine the beginnings of trust and damaging recently formed better relationships.

Pfizer’s, in my view, disingenuous attempt to use patient safety as a cloak under which to hide their attempts to limit the use of PIs and control the supply chain for their own profit, is short-sighted, lacking in vision and damaging to the reputation of the industry as a whole.

The fact that AstraZeneca has delayed the introduction of a similar scheme can only be good news. Perhaps Pfizer will wake up, smell the coffee, and reconsider. Then we can all get around the table and work for the sort of patient-centred health care to which we all aspire.

Graham Phillips
Member of Council
Royal Pharmaceutical Society

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