Over-the-counter medicines such as painkillers and laxatives will remain available in a limited number of places for the time being. Outgoing minister Ernst Kuipers (Public Health, Welfare and Sport, D66) wanted to regulate with an amendment to the legal text of the Medicines Act that medicines may also be sold without a physically present pharmacist or chemist. The Senate is there Tuesday lie ahead, however.
The Medicines Act of 2007 requires the presence of a pharmacist or (assistant) druggist in places where so-called ‘uad’ medicines (only pharmacy and drugstore) are sold in order to be able to provide an explanation. It concerns approximately three thousand medicines, including melatonin and nasal sprays. According to Minister Kuipers, since the introduction of the law, it has never mattered whether the pharmacist or chemist is physically or digitally present. But the Council of State concluded in 2020 that a pharmacist or chemist must be physically present. Kuipers wanted to ‘correct’ the text of the law, but the majority of the senate sees this as a substantial adjustment to the Medicines Act. The Senate wants a separate bill.
There was a lot of discussion about Kuipers’ proposal last week. Opponents feared that people would misuse medicines on a larger scale. According to them, the change would mean that petrol stations, supermarkets and hardware stores would also be allowed to sell medicines. Kuipers is afraid that commonly used medicines in regions where there are fewer drugstores and pharmacists will be difficult to obtain without changes to the law.
It is still unclear what the developments in the Senate mean for the online sale of self-care medicines. “That depends, among other things, on how the judiciary will enforce this,” said a VWS spokesperson.
Read also: Will you get your antacid at the hardware store soon? The Senate is critical of a proposal by Minister Kuipers
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