Have Pharmacists Been Manipulated by the NPA / C&D to Have Subscriptions?

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We have received a phone call recently from a client who was very concerned that the C&D were saying that he was using PIP Code data without a license.

On investigation it would appear that to use your PMRs to order your medical lines, you must have a license from the C&D. To use the PIP Codes on any product you supply, you must have a license from the NPA.

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So, without anybody explaining the consequences of all PMR systems adopting the PIP Codes, both the NPA and the C&D have cleverly trapped everybody into buying licenses from them. Thus they no longer have to rely on providing a good service or first class investigative journalism to survive. Like the society before them, they have you trapped, and look how that turned out.

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Now call me cynical, but this has only been brought to the fore since Alliance Boots became 25% owner of the membership of the NPA. They already had close links to the C&D - look how they sponsor all the awards together, how much advertising the Alliance companies do with the C&D (have you noticed all the advertising the NPA does with the C&D these days?) and how many copies they must purchase per week for all their branches etc. I wonder how much discount they get?

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Could it possibly be that this is the way things will be run in the future? That what Alliance Boots and more specifically Stefano Pessina, decide is a good idea, will be put into action. They have their people at the top of every pharmaceutical organisation apparently making sure they can influence decisions everywhere.

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We just get the feeling that nobody is safe - small wholesalers have been strangled by the manufacturers refusing to supply to them. This means other pharmacy groups and independent's choice of wholesaler is is severely reduced.

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Now everybody has an account with Unichem, they will be able to have much greater knowledge of their customer's accounts etc, and can adjust their commercial decisions to their best advantage. Just bear this in mind when you read articles in the C&D and NPA in future. They may no longer be the independent organisations they once claimed to be.