Sweden's Apoteksbolaget To Lose Monopoly Position?

25 September 1994

Abolition of the state-owned National Corporation of Swedish Pharmacies' (Apoteksbolaget) retail monopoly for prescription medicines sales is proposed in the final report of the governmental investigation, LFU 92 Medicinal Products Supply Commission, by conservative Member of Parliament Margit Gennser, who put forward a similar proposal for over-the-counter drugs last December.

However, the result of the Swedish general election, which took place September 18 and resulted in a return to power of the opposition Socialist Democratic party, albeit without a clear majority, means that everything on the proposed legislation now hangs in the balance. Questioned on how it thought the situation would now be, a spokeswoman for the drug industry association Lakemedelsindustriforeningen told the Marketletter that is is too early to predict, particularly given that there will be no outright majority for the new government.

The aim of the proposal was to provide freedom to establish a pharmacy to anyone living up to the standards regarded as competent, in the eyes of the Medicinal Products Agency, although during a transition period to the end of 1997, Apoteksbolaget would retain its present monopolistic position.

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