Pharmacists rally against HSE scheme

PHARMACISTS fear they will go out of business if the Health Service Executive presses ahead in cutting the wholesale mark-up on drugs dispensed under the medical card scheme next month.

More than 140 pharmacists resumed providing methadone treatment to about 3,000 recovering addicts last month when talks chairman Bill Shipsey SC expressed confidence that real progress could be made in negotiations if they called off their protest.

But IPU official, Darragh O’Loughlin, said no significant breakthrough had been made in the talks since then and pharmacists were now deeply worried about the impact of new arrangements being introduced on December 1.