The price of medicines will no longer appear on packaging from January onwards, with pharmacies obliged to provide the information on the invoice or receipt issued, according to a decree-law published today in Diário da República.
According to the document, the invoice or receipt issued must include information on the sales price to the public, the reference price, if applicable, the percentage of State contribution and the cost borne by the State and the user.
The selling price to the public, as shown in the presentations of the medicines, "does not correspond, as a rule, to the cost of the medicine for the citizen", states the decree-law, explaining that this cost is influenced "by possible reimbursement" and is dependent, in part, on “the economic condition of the citizen”, particularly in the case of pensioners, and on the application of the reference price system to medicines for which there are generics.
In the latter case, "the reimbursement does not apply to the public sale price of the medicine, but to a reference price that varies depending on the medicines available for each active substance and its price", adds the document, highlighting that, for Therefore, the mention of the price on the medicine packaging “provides information that is not very relevant or even difficult to interpret”.
«In addition, the price of medicines is susceptible to change, particularly within the scope of the application of the annual price review rules, which increases the risk of outdated information on the packaging», states the decree, thus justifying the removal of the information on the prices of medicines on packaging, similar to what happens in most European Union countries.
In addition to this change to the legal regime for medicines for human use, the decree-law defines that pharmacies will always have available for sale, at least, three medicines with the same active substance, pharmaceutical form and dosage, among those that correspond to the five lowest prices from each homogeneous group and must dispense with the lowest price, “unless the patient chooses otherwise”.
Regarding the opening and transfer of pharmacies, the decree-law grants greater participation in these processes “to entities with greater knowledge of local realities and needs” and conditions requests to the verification of certain requirements, which includes the opinion of local authorities.
From January onwards, transfers of pharmacies within the same municipality can take place as long as there is another, or a mobile pharmaceutical station, less than one kilometer from its current location, that the minimum distance of 500 m between pharmacies in the destination location be complied with and that the city council gives a favorable opinion.
As for transfers to neighboring municipalities, pharmacies located in municipalities with a capitation lower than required can transfer to municipalities with a higher capitation as long as there are pharmacies less than 500 meters from the one to be transferred and the capitation in that municipality does not becomes higher than that legally required for the opening of new pharmacies.
There must also be a minimum distance of 500 meters between pharmacies in the destination location.
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