Gasparri targeting pharmacy changes

Italian Senator Maurizio Gasparri has lashed out at the country’s recently-passed competition law, which opens the door for national pharmacy chains and removes limits on how many pharmacies a single group may operate.

Speaking to the Italian pharmacists’ association, Federfarma, Gasparri claimed that if his party, Forza Italia, were to “become part of the government” – as a result of Italy’s upcoming elections on 4 March – it would “turn back” the liberalisation of the Italian pharmacy market.

“I have always defended the liberal professions,” Gasparri said. “The defense of local pharmacy is even more important, because it is also about the health of citizens.”

“Pharmacists are the foundation of health protection,” he added. “They not only dispense drugs, but also relieve the pressure on emergency services by dealing with ‘minor’ ailments.”

Italy opened the door for chains after repealing legislation that banned corporate entities from owning pharmacies. It also removed a cap on how many pharmacies a group may operate (OTC bulletin, 11 August 2017, page 1).

Previously, only a qualified pharmacist could own a pharmacy in Italy and multiple ownership was only allowed through a firm owned by pharmacists. These companies were only permitted to own a maximum of four pharmacies and the managing director of the group had to own one of the pharmacies involved. Some municipal chains, operated by local authorities, were the only exceptions.

Article 32 of the new ‘Concorrenza’ Legislative Decree – a wide-ranging law designed to increase competition in a number of industries, not only pharmacy – allowed for corporate entities to own pharmacies and lifted the limit on the number of pharmacies a firm could control.

However, to prevent a company monopolising the market, the new rules stated that a single entity could not directly or indirectly own more than 20% of pharmacies located within the same region or province.

Furthermore, while the law removed the requirement for the managing director of a chain to own a pharmacy, it still required the head to be a qualified pharmacist.

Restrictions on opening hours were also lifted, allowing pharmacies to offer a round-theclock service.

The Federazione Ordini Farmacisti Italiani (FOFI) told OTC bulletin it “absolutely agreed” with Senator Gasparri’s statement in the interview, pointing out that he had also criticised the law when it was passed last year in parliament.

“FOFI has been against the law from the begining,” the association revealed, “because of the very weak regulations regarding horizontal and vertical integration in the [Italian] pharmacy system.”

Despite the regional ownership restrictions enforced by law, FOFI also claimed it would be possible for just five companies to dominate the entire Italian pharmacy market, which would lessen competition rather than increase it.

FOFI’s concerns echo those of Italy’s other pharmacist association, Federfarma, which said last year that the 20% ownership limit was “insufficient” to prevent chains from dominating the market, while those working in chain pharmacies would merely be employees who were “subordinate” to the commercial targets of a company.