Pharmacy logo on a pharmacy (archive photo) Photo: Event Press Stauffenberg
From BZ/dpa
At many pharmacies in Berlin and Brandenburg, customers could stand in front of closed doors on Wednesday (June 14). This is due to a nationwide day of protest.
The Berlin Pharmacists’ Association, for example, assumes that the “vast majority” of pharmacies in the capital will remain closed that day, as a spokesman said. According to the Brandenburg Association of Pharmacists, the pharmacies in the state have also asked to support the day of protest.
The supply of medicines should be secured via emergency pharmacies, as it was said. You can find their locations on the Internet or have them announced by phone. Pharmacy teams meanwhile want to demonstrate in Berlin on Wednesday (from 12 p.m.). It starts at Potsdamer Platz, a final rally is planned in Invalidenpark. According to the police, 5000 participants are registered.
“One thing is certain for our profession: the federal government provoked this day of protest,” said the chairman of the Brandenburg Pharmacists’ Association, Olaf Behrendt, in advance. Delivery bottlenecks, staff shortages, escalating bureaucracy and underfunding that has existed for years would have led to the largest death of pharmacies in Germany in the history of the Federal Republic in 2022. Despite rising costs and the development of inflation, the pharmacies have not received any fee adjustments in the past ten years.
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach has already rejected demands from the pharmacist associations for more fees. “The statutory health insurance companies are complaining about financial problems, the finance minister is cutting funds. Under these circumstances, there is currently no room for higher fees for pharmacists,” said the SPD politician to “Bild am Sonntag”.