Overview

• ABDA president Thomas Preis has called on Health Minister Nina Warken to classify foreign mail-order pharmacy discounts as unlawful and impose penalties under the Social Code.
• A recent Bundesgerichtshof ruling enabled EU-based vendors to resume offering bonuses and price cuts on prescription medicines.
• Germany’s Social Code bars discounts for statutorily insured patients in domestic pharmacies, and pharmacists insist this restriction extends to foreign sellers.
• Pharmacists warn that discount-driven competition could erode legal price-binding, trigger a ruinous price war and jeopardize patient access during shortages.
• The ABDA has also demanded higher dispensing fees to halt an ongoing wave of closures that has seen about 4,500 pharmacies shutter since 2008.