Bulgarian pharma industry to strike over price cuts

The Bulgarian pharmaceutical industry is poised to strike over proposed price decreases in the new regulations for the registration and prices of medication, according to local media reports.

The Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Union (BFU) claimed in an 11 November announcement on Bulgarian National Radio that lower prices would lead to the bankruptcy of pharmacies.

Head of the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union (PGEU), Leopold Schmudermaier, will visit Bulgaria on 24 November for a special conference of the BFU, the union revealed.

Schmudermaier had sent an open letter to the Bulgarian health ministry, which criticised the new regulation. He claimed that lower prices would lead to lower quality pharmaceutical services and problematic access to medication for patients because of bankruptcies of pharmacies, caused by the proposed price decreases.

The BFU said in a press statement that it was categorically against the proposed cut in surplus charges for pharmacies over the distribution and sales of medication.

It added: "At the November BFU conference, rules and regulations for good pharmaceutical practise were set. Following these rules would become impossible, if Parliament accepts the current proposal, as pharmacies would not be able to afford to do so."