Public forced to pay too much for vital medicines, say pharmacists

THE public is being forced to pay unnecessarily high sums for important medi-cines that should be made available over the counter, the Irish Pharmaceutical Union (IPU) has claimed.

The union has listed medication, including the morning-after pill and cholesterol-reducing tablets, which it said should be deregulated and made available from a pharmacist without a prescription.

Darragh O’Loughlin, chairman of the Community Pharmacy Committee of the IPU, said: “There are many medicines with a good safety record available directly from pharmacists in other EU countries for which patients here currently require a prescription. This means unnecessary delays and costs for patients in getting their medication.