The German drugstore chain dm is poised to begin shipping over-the-counter medications within Germany, a move that is triggering a fierce debate over pharmaceutical standards and regulatory loopholes. Confirming the impending change, a company spokesperson revealed dm intends to launch the service later this year, circumventing existing German restrictions on drugstore sales of prescription-free drugs.
The maneuver involves establishing a pharmacy in the Czech town of Bor, through which dm will legally dispatch pharmaceuticals into Germany. This circumvention strategy is drawing sharp criticism from within Germany’s healthcare sector, with fears rising over a potential erosion of longstanding pharmaceutical safeguards.
Simone Borchardt, the health policy spokesperson for the CDU/CSU, voiced significant concerns, arguing that even relatively benign medications can carry risks of serious side effects and drug interactions. “Medications belong in the hands of trained pharmacy personnel, not in the shopping baskets of online drugstores” she stated, highlighting the critical role of in-person pharmaceutical consultation.
Borchardt accused dm of exploiting a regulatory “loophole” aimed at bypassing Germany’s restrictions on foreign ownership of pharmacies. She characterized the company’s actions as “a targeted attack on our proven pharmacy system”. The lawmaker insisted that allowing such practice would set a dangerous precedent, potentially undermining the integrity of Germany’s pharmaceutical network.
Janosch Dahmen, the Green Party’s health policy spokesperson, echoed this sentiment, emphasizing that pharmaceuticals should not be treated as commodity goods. He stressed the necessity of physician prescriptions, pharmaceutical counseling and rigid regulatory frameworks to ensure safe distribution. Allowing large drugstore chains to circumvent German standards through foreign-based operations, he argues, compromises patient safety and undermines the value of localized pharmacy services.
The controversy extends beyond dm, as major online pharmacy retailers such as Shop Apotheke and Doc Morris are reportedly utilizing similar trans-national approaches, shipping medications from the Netherlands – a jurisdiction adopting similarly lenient regulations. This trend is drawing fire from Thomas Preis, president of the German Federal Association of Pharmacists (ABDA), who highlights the detrimental impact on local, community-based pharmacies. Preis points out the vital role pharmacies play in delivering essential services, providing employment and contributing to local tax revenues, particularly during periods of public health crises and pandemics. The integrity and accessibility of a robust domestic pharmacy network, he argues, are non-negotiable for safeguarding public health and well-being.
