The Federal Court No. 2 of Mendoza ordered the suspension of the articles of DNU 70/2023 of the National Government that authorized the sale of medicines without prescription outside pharmacies and the sale of drugs without the presence of a licensed professional. In this way, it gave rise to an appeal for protection that had been presented by the College of Pharmacists of Mendoza.
The ruling suspended the articles of the megadecree signed in December by the president Javier Milei. The measure adopted by a federal court is applicable to the entire country.
Sale of medicines: what the articles of Javier Milei’s DNU said
These articles allowed the sale of “free sale” medications in non-specialized establishments, such as kiosks. The precautionary measure of Federal Court No. 2 thus restores the full validity of article 1 of law 17565 of 1967, which restricts the sale of these medications exclusively to pharmacies. This judicial decision is part of a series of legal actions promoted by groups of pharmacists who allege that the deregulation It affects jobs and labor, health and union rights.
In January the Government published the decree 63/2024 which began to regulate DNU 70/2023 regarding the aforementioned prescription of medications and their marketing. There it was established that in “establishments that are not authorized as pharmacies, the marketing of over-the-counter medications will be limited to those antacids and analgesics. With the judicial measure, this provision was suspended.
The Federal Justice of Mendoza ordered, on the one hand, lay off the articles that enabled the sale of drugs without prescriptions, also called free sale, outside of pharmacies so they must now “be dispensed exclusively in pharmacies.
Sale of medicines: the precedent of justice
On the other hand, the Federal Court of Mendoza ruled in the same way as it had done last April. Chamber V of the National Chamber of Labor Appeals when it suspended three articles of DNU 70/2023 that was part of the deregulation of the practice of pharmacists throughout the country.
That Chamber had accepted the precautionary measure presented by the Argentine Union of Pharmacists and Biochemists (SAFYB) and annulled articles 319, 320 and 321 of DNU 70/2023 considering that modified substantial aspects of pharmaceutical activity, such as the need to have a pharmaceutical professional available during all public service hours in pharmacies.
The revocation maintained the regulations prior to the DNU, which require the continuous presence of a pharmacist and ratified that a professional can only be in charge of one establishment, in accordance with collective bargaining agreements 691/14, 707/15, 794/22 and 795/22. The Mendoza Justice now ruled in the same sense.
Source: Ambito
