ConCourt orders review of medicine dispensing fee

It ordered that the controversial medicine dispensing fee be reviewed within 60 days. It said there was no need to scrap the law – but that changes within the law were needed. The court\'s order set down which words must be removed. The pricing regulations, which went into effect from August 2004, set single exit prices at the wholesale level for medicines, while also fixing pharmacists\' dispensing fees at 26% for medicines costing less than R100 and a maximum of R26 for those costing R100 or more. Pharmacy groups argued that the regulations make conducting business unprofitable, particularly for smaller pharmacies. The Constitutional Court said that the issue of the dispensing fee must be revisited and that oral submissions must be made to the pricing committee. Chief Justice Pius Langa said that he trusted pharmacists not to exploit the public while this process was concluded. The Minister of Health had 60 days to publish the changes to the regulations. Full report on the News24 site Judgment (please note: this file is large: 2mb)

Pharmacists have reason to celebrate, says a Cape Argus report. ‘We\'re very happy with the judgment. The good news for us is that they agreed the fee is not appropriate and should be corrected,’ SA Pharmaceutical Society CE Ivan Kotze said. But although the pharmacists have claimed victory, the judgment also sets aside a SCA judgment they won which declared the whole of the Medicines and Related Substances Act invalid. Full Cape Argus report

But the Health Minister interpreted it as a victory for the Health Department and citizens. Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said in a report on The Citizen site: ‘The judgment cannot be interpreted to say the department was wrong. In fact, it says the department and ministry were correct in trying to bring prices down so they are accessible and affordable.’ The court, she said, merely identified ‘a few minor defects’ in the regulations – which had to be corrected in 60 days. She added the judgment settled prolonged uncertainty about the status of the regulations and the right of the government to regulate medicine prices. Full report on The Citizen site