Medicine pricing case comes to Concourt

Part of the regulations, which were introduced last May to make medicines more affordable and accessible, include formulas to set the manufacturer price of medicine and cap the amount that pharmacists may make from selling the medicines. Pharmacists believe this will put them out of business and have waged a prolonged court battle with the department of health to alter the dispensing fee maximum from R26 or 26 percent of the cost of the medicine.

While waiting for word of an appeal of a Cape High Court ruling in favour of the department of health, the pharmacists decided to approach the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) directly. The SCA declared the regulations invalid and the department of health will ask the Constitutional Court for leave to appeal this. The court is also expected to be asked to make a declaratory order on which laws are currently in force. The health department believes their application to the Constitutional Court revives the regulations, but the pharmacists believe that because there is no clear rule over what happens to an order when it is appealed from the SCA, the SCA order stands until the Constitutional Court makes a ruling.

Meanwhile, pharmacists have chosen their own pricing structures pending the outcome of the application.

(Source: iol website, March 14, 2005)