German Court Backs Pharmacists' Ads

German pharmacists can advertise for clients, the federal constitutional court has said, in a ground-breaking ruling. The prevailing severe curbs on advertising are unconstitutional, it said, and allowed an appeal brought by three pharmacists against fines previously imposed by professional courts.

The federal court said pharmacists were also commercial people who were in open competition in the marketplace in over-the-counter drugs, self-care products and cosmetics, which together accounted for 10% of pharmacy sales of 43 billion Deutschemarks ($2.9 billion) in 1995. The judges said pharmacy organizations and the professional courts must recognize that nowadays competition in these areas is more aggressive than in the past.

The ruling has been criticized by the German pharmacy federation, which says "a commercially-oriented minority of pharmacists, with a particularly aggressive, competitive attitude, have now been given a following wind by the federal constitutional court."