Pharmacists say they will flood a key health administration agency with paperwork to protest at the deregulation of the sector by the Minister for Health.
Deregulation is expected to come under fire from pharmacists again tomorrow at a meeting in Cork of the official body set up to review regulations which have been dropped by the Minister.
The regulations, introduced in 1996, restricted the freedom to set up new pharmacies. A health board could refuse permission for a pharmacy if it believed the viability of an existing pharmacy was endangered. The Irish Pharmaceutical Union claims the restriction prevented big chains from taking over the retail pharmacy sector.
Were this to happen, it argues, pharmacies in small towns would be driven out of business.
The Competition Authority says the regulations protect inefficient pharmacists and the Consumers Association says they created a cartel for pharmacists. These bodies are members of the review group set up to report to the Minister for Health on how the regulations should be changed. In the meantime, however, Mr Martin abolished the regulations on the advice of the Attorney General.
Pharmacists have reacted with outrage and, according to the IPU president, Ms Marie Hogan, they will take legal action to reverse the move. Ireland now has the most unregulated pharmacy sector in Europe, she said. As part of its protest, up to 600 pharmacists who make electronic returns to the General Medical Services Payments Board - which reimburses doctors and pharmacists for services provided under the medical card scheme - would revert to making all returns on paper, she said.
Pharmacists are also refusing to take on new methadone patients. This means up to 90 potential new patients a month will get their supply from a health board drug treatment centre, the IPU says. Pharmacists will continue to supply about 6,000 existing patients. A spokesman for the South Western Area Health Board welcomed the news that pharmacists would continue to accept existing patients.