Overview
- The nationwide action, which closed many outlets Monday, drew large rallies in Berlin, Munich, Düsseldorf and Hannover, while emergency pharmacies stayed open for urgent needs.
- Pharmacists are pushing to lift the fixed fee per prescription pack to €9.50 from €8.35, a rate that has not changed since 2013 but was pledged in the 2025 coalition deal.
- Health Minister Nina Warken said she will present a spring regulation to raise pay, as statutory insurers propose a tiered model that trims fees for high‑volume city pharmacies and boosts them for low‑volume rural ones.
- Participation varied by region, with about 80% of Berlin pharmacies closed and close to 90% in Hesse, while roughly half shut in Thuringia, and Berlin crowd estimates ranged from about 3,000 (police) to 6,000 (organizers).
- Long‑running strain forms the backdrop, with 16,601 pharmacies at the end of 2025 after hundreds of closures and 44 insolvencies last year, leaving many rural patients with longer trips even as some insurers say most people still live within two kilometers of a pharmacy.