-
GR, GRP, PR: What do the French hiking signs mean?
What are the coloured symbols on French hiking routes? Who paints them there and why?
-
Miss France: glam - but not sexy
Miss France organiser Geneviève de Fontenay fears she is fighting a losing battle to protect her 'Cinderella dream' from vulgarity
-
Normandy Landings visit for Queen
Queen Elizabeth has confirmed a state visit to France, ending rumours she is handing over duties to Charles
Leclerc wants more pharmacy rights
Shoppers should be able to buy non-prescription drugs from their supermarket at affordable prices, retailer says
SUPERMARKET giant Leclerc has demanded the right to sell over-the-counter medicines in its stores.
The group has launched an ad campaign putting pressure on the government to allow it to sell 4,000 products - such as Nurofen and Nicorette - that are available without a prescription and not reimbursed by social security.
Leclerc has 134 pharmacies inside its shops, but apart from basic food supplements and diet products, they are not allowed to sell drugs without a prescription.
The company says a government promise in 2008 to deregulate the sale of non-prescription medicines has not worked and those pharmacies that are free to sell them are charging too much.
It demands in its new TV ad that "our pharmacists have the right to sell over-the-counter medicines at Leclerc prices".
Director Michel-Edouard Leclerc said: "It is astonishing that despite all the anti-smoking campaigns our pharmacies are not allowed to sell Nicorette."
According to Le Figaro, the non-prescription medicine market is worth almost €2bn a year.
Photo: Marc Planard