DocMorris wins first round in German case

The Netherlands direct-mail and Internet pharmacy group DocMorris.com has cleared a further hurdle in its contest with the German state authorities in the Saarland district over its right to operate a pharmacy in Saarbruecken.

A court in the city has now ruled in favor of DocMorris. com saying - according to the company - that it can see no reason in civil law to vary the current permission to operate the business. The company's pharmacy subsidiary in Saarbruecken will however remain closed until a further bridge in the legal process has been crossed. Last summer, a lower court rejected the complaint of a German pharmacist that a foreign-owned pharmacy could not legally operate inside Germany.

Nevertheless, a number of legal experts say the acquisition of the pharmacy by DocMorris.com breaches current pharmacy law. While a foreign pharmacist may run a pharmacy in Germany, this does not extend to the establishment as in the DocMorris.com case of a limited company. The German federal association of pharmacists issued a criminal complaint against DocMorris.com as far back as 2002 (Marketletters passim).