After the Urgo laboratory admitted the conduct alleged against it, around 8,300 pharmacists are facing proceedings over their commercial relations with it. The legal basis relied on is Article L. 1453-3 of the French Public Health Code, which prohibits healthcare professionals from receiving benefits, in cash or in kind, from companies marketing health products.

A questionable characterisation

  • the pharmacists bought the products concerned at market price: what was purchased cannot be characterised as a benefit received;
  • the mechanism affected neither prescription volumes nor the regulated prices paid by patients;
  • neither the professional Order nor the inspection authorities had ever flagged a long-standing, well-known practice as unlawful;
  • the way the questioning is being conducted suggests guilt is presumed before intent and the legal characterisation have even been examined.

The piece calls for each case to be assessed individually and rigorously, rather than a wholesale indictment of the profession.

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