Pharmacies going out of business
Many pharmacies are in financial difficulty and more of them than ever are going bankrupt
PHARMACIES are finding it harder and harder to make a profit and are going out of business in greater numbers than ever before.
The pharmacists’ union reports that, between 2005 and 2009, pharmacies lost 1.5 per cent of their margin and 49 per cent of them are now in the red. From 29 bankruptcies in 2005, there were 97 last year, a figure set to be overtaken this year.
It is the sector that has seen the highest rise in bankruptcies overall in recent years, according to business credit experts Coface.
One problem is the system by which people can pay nothing for their medicines and the pharmacies have to wait for a reimbursement from the local health authority, which can cause cash-flow difficulties. They have also suffered from regular prices cuts on medicines imposed by the government, plus the fact that doctors are being encouraged to prescribe less, said the pharmacists’ national body.
What is more, drug companies have decreased discounts they make on generic drugs and there are also an increasing number of “parapharmacies”, specialising in the kinds of non-prescription items that pharmacies traditionally sell as well as medicines.
A spokesman for the French pharmacists’ federation said in business newspaper Les Echos that they had demanded help from the government. “Our difficulties have been recognised, but the response remains insufficient,” he said.
There are 22,386 dispensing pharmacies in mainland France, compared to 10,691 in England.
