The ban on pharmacy advertising entered into force on 1 January 2012. Since that time a heated debate has continued to recur between the proponents of this solution, the Supreme Pharmaceutical Chamber(Naczelna Izba Aptekarska), in whose opinion medicines cannot be regarded as ordinary goods, and those against, including the Lewiatan Confederation which has pointed to the resulting barriers to market competition.
The new law imposed a ban on advertising pharmacies and pharmaceutical outlets, and their business activities. This, however, excludes information on the location and business hours of such establishments, which remain legal. Violators will be fined by voivodeship pharmaceutical inspectors.
The proponents: medicines are not ordinary consumer products
The provision prohibiting pharmacy advertising was not included in the government’s draft Reimbursement Act, but introduced as an MP amendment during Sejm proceedings on the draft. The Ministry of Health is now preparing another amendment to the Act; its draft version, however, does not provide for an amended provision regarding the ban on advertising.
In the Ministry’s view, patients were justified in expecting that the State would support a project aimed at putting an end to treating them as participants in a profit-oriented market game.
According to the MoH, patients’ welfare lies at the foundation of the pharmacist profession and thus it would be difficult to reconcile it with a complete business freedom enjoyed by other entities on the retail market.
The Ministry further believes that the ban on advertising should suppress the notorious “self-treatment" in which patients recklessly engage without consulting a doctor or even reading package inserts. The ban stemmed from the same reasons as the prohibition on advertising prescription, reimbursable and psychotropic medicines.
According to the Supreme Pharmaceutical Chamber which during the Sejm discussions on the Act opted for introducing the ban, no other subject-matter factors exist in favour of pharmacy advertisements, while the relation between patients and pharmacists, the latter being a profession of public trust, has to be based on absolute confidence.
The Chamber’s position is that medicines are not ordinary consumer products, and patients mustn’t be exploited, nor should they be urged to take even more medications.
"Patients mustn’t be exposed to advertising, as it promotes greater drug consumption and does not leave their health and lives unaffected. Consequently, correctly understood patients’ welfare should be valued more than business profits," pharmacists claim. The pharmacists’ professional organisation has also argued that the pharmacy ban currently in force is clear enough and does not require any alterations.
The opponents: the ban will hinder market competition
Among those in favour of lifting the ban is the Lewiatan Confederation in whose opinion, pharmacists, just like attorneys or doctors, should not advertise their services. At the same time, however, employers will not approve of pharmacies’ not having the right to inform patients on their products, a privilege fully exercised by law firms, hospitals and outpatient clinics.
The right to present product catalogues – as stipulated by the Confederation – should only cover non-reimbursable medicines, dietary supplements, cosmetics and medical devices, because these products are sold and advertised by supermarkets, drugstores and petrol stations.
In October 2013, the Confederation filed an appeal against the ban with the European Commission, claiming it hinders pharmacies’ competitive position on the market.
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