The General Pharmaceutical Council – the body in charge of regulating pharmacies – has defended its position on tackling pharmacists that export medicines. The Chief Executive of the GPhC, Duncan Rudkin, attacked suggestions that it could be stopped as “misleading”. Pharmacists cannot be stopped from exporting under the current law. “We will continue to remind registrants of their responsibilities, as set out in our standards of conduct, ethics and performance,” Mr Rudkin said. He added that the recent All Party Pharmacy Group report on the medicine supply shortage issue in the UK recommended matters for Government, the MHRA or for those directly involved in the medicines supply chain.
Paul Gershlick, a Partner and Head of Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences at Matthew Arnold & Baldwin LLP, comments: “As the recent APPG report makes clear, this is a complex issue and there is no silver bullet. Indeed, the Rt Hon Kevin Barron MP, the chair of the APPG, made that point when he addressed our recent seminar on the topic. But as Mr Barron rightly said, that the issue is complex and there is no easy solution do not mean that nothing can be done. The process must start with collating enough data, including showing which drugs are in shortage so that the industry knows what they are dealing with – but this is something that the Department of Health does not appear to have taken sufficiently seriously so far.”
For more on the medicine supply shortage seminar hosted by MAB, in conjunction with the Watford Chamber of Commerce, Sigma Pharmaceuticals and the Independent Pharmacy Federation, see the video here: http://www.youtube.com/user/mablawuk?feature=results_main.