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PBS
FUTURE AND FREE TRADE AGREEMENT
There is something about the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry
you have to admire and that is the strength of its lobbying power.
Who would have thought that the PBS would have come under such
close scrutiny as it did with pharmaceuticals included in the
Free Trade Agreement discussions?
The cost to the Nation of the Pharmaceutical Benefits will be
under closer scrutiny when the prices of prescription medicines
rise as a result of the Free Trade Agreement with the USA.
The price of OTC medicines is also certain to remain high with
a patent life extension on medicines such as antihistamines.
The marketing of generics is what keeps the costs down however
a paper prepared by The Australia Institute predicts that there
will be a $1.1 billion increase from 2006 to 2009 to the PBS as
a result of an extension of patent life for just five drugs listed
on the PBS.
This makes the total increase in costs a significant element when
the discussion centres around the SUSTAINABILITY of the PBS as
we know it today.
If an increase is expected then it will bring pressure on the
government to reduce costs on other areas. Dispensing fees and
economies of scale achieved through retail pharmacy can be expected
to intensify.
Oh and by the way - the Australia Institute paper also reveals
that of a total of $24.4 million dollars contributed by the US
pharmaceutical industry to election campaign funds in the US -
70% went to President George Bush!
The commotion that surrounded the removal of Professor David Henry
from the PBAC is fresh in the minds of industry watchers and the
subsequent attempts to link advisers to the Minister for Health
with a multinational drug company.
So to the appointment of a senior adviser to the Minister of Finance
to the position of CEO of Medicines Australia shows that the US
based giant Pharma are still alive and well in the Australian
political process..
NEED
TO MAKE MONEY OUT OF I.T.
It is accepted that before an IT system can be successfully introduced
into pharmacy it has to be able to show how it will improve the
"bottom line".
This was evidenced most when computer programs such as Data Design
or Chemdata were first marketed in the 1980s.
It was not until the "yellow book" was available electronically
and claims could be lodged more quickly and easily that the
products for dispensing really took off.
The Better Medication Management System or
MediConnect as it is now called, has been talked about
for five years and still has not reached the stage of
creating excitement in the market place and with
pharmacists queuing up to be a part of it.
Why is this so?
Well it could be that there is no money in it.
However it has been revealed that the Pharmacy Guild's associate
companies have taken
out a patent on the Intellectual Property that will help to drive
the
system.
Could this be the link?
Is this how the pharmacist will make the money?
Possibly a commission to participating pharmacists for being a
part of the grand plan to put consumer's medical and pharmaceutical
history on a smart card.
There is just one more question to be answered before it can be
launched and that is "Does the consumer want it?"
This column seeks evidence of independent consumer research that
shows a significant number of consumers WANT a smart card that
would make Medi-Connect an economic proposition - that is after
the Intellectual Property rights have been paid!
NSW
LIFTS THE CAP ON NUMBER OF PHARMACIES A PHARMACIST CAN OWN
The first jurisdiction to lift the lid is making it look as it
if is being done because of pressure from Howard and Costello.
In reality it is the recommendation of the National Competition
Policy review of pharmacy regulations back in 1999.
Only five years on and something might change.
It makes you wonder how quickly it would have changed if pharmacists
WANTED it to happen.
The delay is indicative of a reluctance to introduce new measures
that just might bring about more competition - even if it is from
your best mate down the road!
My
quote of the month:
If
you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost;
that is where they should be.
Now put the foundations under them.
Henry
David Thoreau
(1817-1862, American Essayist, Poet, Naturalist)
The pharmacy
castle was built in the 1930s.
How long can the foundations last? - That is the question.
Have fun
Comments and suggestion for topics to this column may be sent
to rollom@bigpond.net.au
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