Six billion euros, just under half compared to the 12.9 of the affiliated pharmaceuticals. This is what was recorded in 2010 by Italian spending on non-reimbursed ethics, i.e. band C (OTC and Sop included) plus band A paid privately. This figure is enough to explain why pharmacies are terrified by the liberalization of medicines prescribed on white prescriptions: overall, in fact, a year in band C is worth almost six months of approved spending, and the price trend suggests that in the years to come the ratio may even decrease. Merit of the price curve: while those in range A draw a descending parabola that tends towards stability in the last five years, drugs in range C record in the same period inconstant but nonetheless appreciable increases (such as the +4% recorded between 2009 and 2008). The effects are evident: in the first six months of 2011 non-reimbursed ethical items show a decline in pieces sold of 1.6% but a growth in values of 2.1% (Ims data), a performance that is not exceptional but helps to compensate for the decline in band A (almost two points less in the same period on gross expenditure). And then that of class C is a polarized market: benzodiazepines, the therapeutic class with the highest expenditure in 2010, account for more than the 17% of the market and the first five categories (in addition to benzodiazepines, oral contraceptives, drugs for erectile dysfunction, prokinetics and antispasmodics, topical corticosteroids for dermatological use) add up more than 40%. The same goes for the active ingredients of the Sop group 578 million the 2010 market, where paracetamol alone makes 16.7%, followed at a distance by ambroxol (7.8%), glycerol (associated with common chamomile, mallow and wheat starch, 4,4%) and diclofenac (3,8%).
3 December 2011 – Pharmacist33
Band C, Monday the maneuver that keeps the owners in suspense
Single quorum of 4,000 inhabitants for pharmacies and competitions within 120 days for newly established offices. This should also be included in the 20-25 billion Maneuver that the Monti government will launch on Monday after today's and tomorrow's round of meetings with parties and social partners. At least this is what the "rumors" that have been circulating in the political corridors since Thursday say, a tam tam that from hour to hour adds new pieces to a mosaic that is still out of focus. Even with regard to the liberalization of band C, new details are arriving, according to which some classes of non-reimbursed ethical people - drugs and perhaps benzodiazepines - would be excluded from deregulation. The fact remains that these are still rumors, insistent but without the consistency that an official release or a written draft can ensure. Also because, at the moment, there would be no drafts: only between today and tomorrow, in fact, the "quadrumvirate" that governs the fate of the Maneuver (Monti, Passera, Fornero and Moavero) should put the provisions on paper. Not surprisingly, in these hours Federfarma is making every effort to be able to get its voice across to the four. The thesis of the union, in substance, is that the measures on the pharmacy are contradictory: on the one hand the number of principals is expanding to give new employment opportunities, on the other the pharmacy is impoverished with
