High cost of drugs to blame

THE EDITOR: I read with interest the arguments put forward by the Pharmacy Board for its rejection of "a request from the TT Chamber of Industry and Commerce to allow pharmaceutical distributors 90 days to 'explore compliance options.'"

The board's president "explained that patients often obtained 'office use' prescriptions from doctors, then collected large quantities of drugs from distributors without going through a licensed pharmacy."

He went on to give several reasons why the practice was illegal and should be stopped. However, I would like the board to dig deep into one of the main reasons why this practice has been, as the president put it, "a long-standing concern in the pharmacy community." That reason is the cost of drugs and the high profit margins of the pharmacies.

I am not afraid to admit that my family and I were beneficiaries of this so-called illegal practice. In 1975, after having spontaneous abortions because of an incompetent cervix, my wife had a baby stitched into her womb.

However, the doctor told us we would not be able to afford the drugs my wife would need to strengthen her womb at the pharmacies and gave us letters to take to the distributors.

The doctor was right. The drugs, on average, cost ten times more at the pharmacies compared to the distributors. We were also fortunate that on several occasions our family doctor gave us drugs freely that he said were "samples."

My personal experiences as described above leaves me to wonder why the Pharmacy Board is not discussing with its members their huge profit margins as part of the reasons for this "immoral and unethical" practice, as the board put it.

I pity the poor patients who cannot get their drugs through CDAP and must face the full cost at the pharmacies.

STANLEY LEE POW

via e-mail