PHARMACY BILL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 59, Issue 299, 30 September 1939, Page 2

PHARMACY BILL

PROPRIETARY MEDICINES ISSUE. PASSED BY THE HOUSE. (Per Press Association). WELLINGTON, September 29. Moving the committal of the Pharmacy Bill No. 2 in the House of Representatives this afternoon, the Hon. D. G. Sullivan said that there were two aspects of the Bill, namely, the professional and what might be termed the commercial. Regarding the former, that part of the measure was substantially a consolidation of the existing legislation. The real controversy which had occurred on the previous Pharmacy Bill had not been about the professional side but rather in regard to the commercial side, of the measure as embodied in two clauses which defined who may or may not be permitted to sell drugs. This difficulty had eventually been overcome by an agreement between the pai’ties concerned. The Bill as it now' stood bad been accepted by all the interested sections as satisfactory. One of the chief controversial subjects had been the question of who should be entitled to sell proprietary medicines, but it had been decided that the mater should be left to the decision of the Minister with a proviso that he should consult the different interested parties before finally arriving at a decision. ' The lit. Hon. G. W. Forbes (National, Horunui): What about country stores where there are no chemists? The Minister: There will be no difficulty about that. The matter has been thoroughly! discussed and no hardship will be occasioned to country people where a chemist’s services are not available. In reply to Opposition questions regarding the effect of the Bill on people who were not qualified chemists or medical men, the Minister said there were some people who were practising herbalists, whom he thought were charlatans and quacks, and it might be necessary to exercise control over them. An Allegation. “An inventory of doctors’ prescriptions taken recently by an official of Otago University showed that patent medicines bad been prescribed-.in an unexpectedly high proportion,’’ said Dr. McMillan (Labour, Dunedin West). He added that the inventory had been made in most of the leading chemists’ shops in Dunedin, and it could only be regarded as evidence of the deterioration in medical standards. * Discussing the Bill in committee, Air H. S. S. Kyle (National, Riccartan) said they should be stopping quackery instead of opening the door for it as would be effected by the clause which the Minister was introducing in the Bill affecting herbalists. The original provision had been designed to prevent people who called themselves herbalists from commencing business after the passing of the Act, but the clause before the House opened the do or for them. The clause, which was allowed . to pass, replaces the amendment recommended by the Public Health Committee. It authorises any person who is a member of the N.Z. Association of Aledical Herbalists to commence business after the passing of the Rill with the Minister’s consent. The Bill was put through all its remaining stages and passed.