Romanian Pharmacists On Go-Slow Strike Tuesday, Wednesday

Romanian pharmacists will be on go-slow strike Tuesday and Wednesday in protest they did not receive the money from health insurance authorities for the medicines sold in the last five months, and ask the Government to find solutions.

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"The Romanian Pharmacists' College urges the Government to immediately find solutions to prevent Romanian pharmacies from going bankrupt and ensure medicines for patients," the Pharmacists' College said in a press release.

Pharmacists said that the Government's decision to extend from 60 to 210 days the deadline by which health insurance houses must pay their bills, brought pharmacies on the brink of bankruptcy.

"We are faced with a very serious situation as pharmacies did not reveive the money for the medicines sold in the last five months and will receive no money at least until February next year. Many pharmacies, especially those in rural areas, face insolvency and are summoned to pay their debts to the state and wholesalers," the Pharmacists' College said.

Pharmacists said their engagement loan will be exhausted by the end of November due to an increase in medicine consumption, adding discussions with public authorities representatives led to no solutions to their problems.

The pharmacists will thus start a go-slow strike as a first step of their protests, the Pharmacists' College said.

The Romanian Pharmacists' College said last month that about half of Romanian pharmacies risk not being able to pay their debts to medicine wholesalers and the state budget by the end of the year, after the government gave health insurance houses six months to pay their bills instead of three.

Romania has between 4,000 and 5,000 pharmacies.

"About one third of the pharmacies countrywide can't pay their debts and the number of pharmacies sued over debts to medicine wholesalers increases by the day. Half of the pharmacies in the country might face insolvency by the end of the year unless authorities come up with a solution to this problem," the secretary general of the Pharmacists' College, Ioan Uivarosi, said back then.

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