CHEMISTS’ RESPONSE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 May 1941, Page 6

CHEMISTS’ RESPONSE

PHARMACEUTICAL BENEFITS SCHEME GENERAL ACCEPTANCE ANTICIPATED. ACCORDING TO MINISTER OF HEALTH. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. The response by chemists to the scheme of social security pharmaceutical benefits since they were first made available on May 5 was outlined by the Minister of Health, Mr Nordmeyer, in an interview last evening. He said it appeared from preliminary returns that the vast majority of chemists in the Dominion were operating the benefits and were prepared to accept contract's under the scheme. Inquiries had been made by some chemists as to certain features of the contracts, and it was anticipated that practically the whole of the chemists would accept within the next week. Mr Nordmeyer said that in the early weeks of a scheme of this magnitude anomalies might manifest themselves. He was particularly anxious where chemists found difficulties and were prepared to make suggestions that they should write to the Director-General of Health or himself. If they did this their'representations would receive consideration at an early meeting of the representatives of the chemists and officers of the Health Department.

Replying to an , inquiry as to whether the Government intended to exclude all proprietaries permanently, the Minister said that investigations were already being made into certain proprietaries and where these had no British pharmacopoeia equivalent it was likely they would be added to the free list later. The public, however, should know that some proprietaries were simply expensive forms of a simple combination of drugs which a doctor might prescribe and a patient secure free.