Archive for November 23rd, 2009
New offensive against pharmacies. A few weeks after winning a lawsuit against his advertising in April 2008 comparing drugs to luxury goods, Leclerc renewed the attack.
The retailer, which operates 134 parapharmacies within or adjacent to its supermarkets, has been calling for this Friday evening in a TV spot "that its doctors pharmacy have the right to sell all non-reimbursed medicines priced Leclerc." To now, the Leclerc parapharmacies mainly sell cosmetics, dietary supplements, dietary products and toiletries.
The market for 4 000 self-medication products is estimated at 1.9 billion euros. Unlike drugs sold only on prescription and reimbursed by Social Security, the price is free, but they remain the monopoly of pharmacists who have received authorization from Ministry of Health.They represent 6% of pharmacy sales and a greater share of their profits.
To put pressure on governments, Michel-Edouard Leclerc brandished a study commissioned from the Institute Bipe Showing that vitamins C Upsa, Nicorette patches and Nurofen tablets are sold up to three times the price of a pharmacy at the other in the same city.
"Free access to self-medication products in pharmacies and the pricing charged by Roselyne Bachelot in June 2008 does not work," thunders the boss Leclerc.It ensures that if its 180 doctors pharmacy got approval to sell these medicines, the purchasing power of patients and hypochondriacs increase.
Price halved
"If new operators held 20% of the market for non-reimbursed medicines, the prices of these fall by half," says Michel-Edouard Leclerc.
This time, it does not violate the law. "I'm not ready to accuse me of illegal practice of pharmacy, as was the case when Leclerc began to sell condoms," he acknowledges. But it is surprising that, despite anti-smoking campaigns, our parapharmacies have no right to sell Nicorette. "
The movement Leclerc, who is celebrating his sixty years, would it become less aggressive?