New regulation on drug prices from the Ministry of Health

Increases in drug prices due to exchange rate updates will also be reflected in pharmacists' profit margins. Thanks to the Ministry of Health's regulation, pharmacists will be prevented from experiencing income loss.

PHARMACISTS WILL BE PREVENTED FROM INCURRING LOSSES WITH EXCHANGE RATE UPDATES

In a statement regarding the regulation published in the Official Gazette yesterday, the Ministry of Health stated that drug prices are updated annually within the framework of the "Communiqué on the Pricing of Medicinal Products for Human Use" and in accordance with periodic Euro exchange rate changes. The statement emphasized that this update is based on a certain percentage of the previous year's average Euro value and is determined in line with budget discipline, as is the case in other countries. It was stated that the regulation covers not only medicinal products for human use but also imported drugs.

It was reported that because updates were not made every year under the current regulation, pharmacy profit brackets remained fixed, and as a result, many drugs moved into higher brackets and were sold with lower profit margins. The statement noted that pharmacists' profit margins are applied as 28 percent in the first bracket (drugs up to 328 liras), 18 percent in the second bracket (drugs between 328-657 liras), and 13 percent in the third bracket (drugs over 657 liras).

Emphasizing that the new regulation published in the Official Gazette yesterday will provide a significant advantage for pharmacists, the statement included the following: "Pharmacists' profitability brackets will now be redetermined during every exchange rate update period. Thus, in line with the increases in drug prices, the brackets used for pharmacists' profit calculations will also be increased at the same rate. Pharmacists will benefit equally from drug price updates, preventing income losses."