In France, there is a dispute over the sale of medicines, as the French government wants to simplify the sale of non-prescription medicines, which should benefit the population in rural areas. Cities can also benefit because of high property prices. Secretary of State Olivier Dussopt has just announced that it will be possible to sell non-prescription medicines over the internet. All that is needed is to place an order with a pharmacist, who will then receive and execute the order via the Internet. This system is already in use in France. What is new, however, is that the medicines will no longer have to be accepted in the pharmacy. According to the government, the storage and logistics of the medicines will then be handled by a mail-order company such as Amazon. This would meet the fears of the French pharmacists‘ association USPO that it would „open the door to the marketing of the drug trade“. The head of the association, Gilles Bonnefond, criticizes the handling via so-called collection points, which lead to large mail-order companies cooperating with pharmacy chains and distributing drugs via a central depot. Protests will be unavoidable, as 97 percent of French pharmacists are tense and massively criticize the government’s health policy, partly because they have so far had to accept strict conditions for the sale of painkillers in the visual range of their pharmacies. According to the association, the government’s approach is peppered with contradictions. However, no decision has yet been made either.
