Brussels, 05/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - For a case referred to it by the pharmacy and drugstore industry, the Milan Administrative Court in Italy asked on 3 April 2012 for the European Court of Justice's view about whether Italian legislation banning the sale of prescription-only medicines not reimbursed by the social security system anywhere other than pharmacies complied with EU rules (Article 49 of the EU treaty on the freedom of establishment and the freedom to provide services).
The Italian court argues that there is no crucial reason for preventing medicines from being sold at drugstores and no justification for such a restriction on economic reason. Neither is there any valid justification in terms of ensuring an even spread of pharmacies in Italy, increasing safety, ensuring high quality medicines, preventing over-medication or the cost to the public purse. The Italian pharmaceutical products' agency AIFA argues that prescription medicines should only be available at pharmacies because of the complicated storage requirements.
The European Court of Justice's ruling in this case may law down neew case law for other EU member states in terms of whether medicines can be sold in locations other than online or a chemist's. (FG/transl.fl)