THE Government is to introduce laws to stop vested interests like drug companies and hospital doctors dictating what kind of drugs are prescribed, Junior Health Minister Tim O’Malley confirmed yesterday.

THE cost of goods sold in chemist shops will not be lowered by the proposed opening up of the market, the Irish Pharmaceutical Union (IPU) insisted last night.

A RADICAL shake-up of the pharmacy industry, allowing chemists trained abroad to open up businesses here, will be recommended to Health Minister Micheál Martin later this week.

Medicines in Ireland cost more than in most other EU countries, according to a report commissioned by the Government-appointed Pharmacy Review Group.