Nine out of ten pharmacies will strike and drop the curtain this Saturday, according to the Union of Unions of Frame Pharmacists (USPO), at the origin of an unprecedented mobilization against the reduction of commercial discounts on generic drugs decided by the government.
According to a survey conducted on August 12 and 13 with 4,500 pharmacies, including more than half non -adhering to the USPO, “92 % of French pharmacies plan to close this Saturday”. In some areas, the rate would reach 100 %. The watchword, “close one day not to close forever”, illustrates the anger of professionals in the face of a decree published on August 6 in the Official Journal.
A threat to economic balance
From September 1, the discount ceiling granted by laboratories will drop from 40 % to 30 % of the price of generics, before gradually drop to 20 % by 2027. However, these discounts, which represent approximately a third of the margin of pharmacists, also serve the State to decrease prices to industrialists.
For the USPO, this decision directly threatens the economic balance of the pharmacies. “It is the guaranteed death of pharmacies that are fragile,” alerts Patrick Raymond, president of the USPO in the Bouches-du-Rhône, which fears a chain closure of the smallest structures and the layoffs in the largest.
Other actions scheduled for September
The president of the USPO of Bouches-du-Rhône also warns that laboratories could abandon the French market for more remunerative countries, accentuating the risk of shortages.
Our file on pharmacies
If this day of mobilization does not consensus – the Federation of Pharmaceutical Unions of France (FSPF) sticks to the gap, judging the unfailing date -, the intersyndicale (USPO, FSPF, APF, FEDERGY, UDGPO) already provides for other actions. A national closure is announced for September 18, followed by an activity judgment “every Saturday from September 27” in order to maintain the pressure.
