Following the drug price hike: "Pharmacists have reached the point where they can no longer provide pharmaceutical services"
A 25 percent price hike on pharmaceuticals will take effect starting December 25. Days before the hike goes into effect, many drugs, particularly cancer medications, are unavailable in pharmacies. Pharmacists state that some pharmaceutical companies and warehouses are waiting for the price increase to release their stock. Muğla Chamber of Pharmacists President Saim Korkmaz explained the difficulties pharmacies are facing.
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While the Euro exchange rate for pharmaceuticals was adjusted on December 16, a 25 percent price hike was also applied to drugs. However, the increased prices will only be implemented starting December 25.
Pharmacists believe this situation is being exploited by pharmaceutical companies and drug warehouses.
Muğla Chamber of Pharmacists President Saim Korkmaz stated that setting the implementation date for the December 19 price hike to December 25 has caused distress for citizens, and that the solution to this problem would be to implement the price increase on the date it was announced.
"DURING THIS INTERIM PERIOD, WE ARE STRUGGLING TO FIND EVEN LIFE-SAVING MEDICATIONS"
In his statement, Muğla Chamber of Pharmacists President Korkmaz said, “As is the case at the end of every year, we are facing a very serious shortage of drugs, especially in recent days. There are many reasons for drug shortages, and we pharmacists voice these reasons and our proposed solutions on every platform.
However, the main reason we have been experiencing intensely over the last few days, which has brought us pharmacists to the point of being unable to ‘provide pharmaceutical services,’ is that although the 25 percent price hike for drugs was announced on December 19, 2023, its implementation date was set for December 25, 2023.
During this interim period, unfortunately, we are struggling to find even life-saving medications. If there had not been such a gap between the announcement date of the hike and its effective date, we would not be experiencing these problems so intensely.
It is truly saddening that this problem persists despite the warnings and solution proposals we have been making to our authorities for years. We demand that this situation, which jeopardizes our public's access to medicine, be resolved immediately and that the necessary measures be taken urgently to ensure these problems do not occur again,” he said.