Pharmacy fear expressed

Press, 22 May 1986, Page 33

Pharmacy fear expressed

PA Dunedin The public will lose if the Government deregulates ownership of pharmacies, says the retiring president of the Chemists’ Guild, Mr Ken Campbell.

Government moves would possibly allow unqualified persons to own

as many chemist shops as they liked. “The public will be the loser from such a dangerous experiment,” Mr Campbell said. With all the concerns about homebake and other forms of drug abuse, it was inconceivable that the Government would want a situation where any unqualified person could control a pharmacy by ownership of it.

“The community is well served by the present system, under which pharmacies can only be owned by qualified pharmacists, and are governed by a strict code of ethics,” Mr Campbell said. “As professional people they are not solely concerned with profit and provide many free or unprofitable services for the public benefit” Law changes would mean that big company chains, some of them overseas-owned, would take over and many present pharmacies would be closed, he said.

“This will disadvantage many people, particularly the elderly, who suddenly find that their convenient neighbourhood pharmacy has disappeared.”