France calls into question pharmacies' monopoly

Will the French be able to buy their aspirin tablets at the nearest grocery store? In a report on regulated professions, the General Inspection of Finance (GIF) calls for an end to pharmacies' monopoly on the sale of certain drugs. 

Flickr / flightlog / CC

In a recent report on regulated professions in France, the General Inspection of Finance (GIF) recommends that pharmacies should no longer have a monopoly on the sale of certain drugs.

GIF wants to open up the sale of drugs that do not require prescriptions (like Tylenol and Spasfon) and drugs that are non-refundable (like Nurofen, Humex and Fervex) to supermarkets.

This could lead to a price decline in favour of consumers.

These drugs represent an average 9% of pharmacies’ turnover.

GIF underlines that during the past fifteen years "the price of non-refundable medicines has increased twice as much as the cost of living.”

Pharmacists say this increase compensates for the price decline in refundable drugs.

The market for self-medication products is already opening up in many countries.

The British system was the first to allow the sale of self-medication products outside pharmacies, around one hundred years ago.

In the United States it is also commonplace to buy certain over-the-counter drugs at supermarkets.

With the liberalization of the sector in Italy in 2006, prices decreased by 25%.

Germans can buy medicine online since 2004, but these popular websites are owned by pharmacies.