Many dispensing doctors might close their surgeries in the first week of May and march to the Union Buildings in protest against a new law that forces them to obtain licences to dispense medication, two medical associations warned on Thursday.
The South African Medical and Dental Association (SAMDP) and the South African Medical Association (Sama) also advised doctors to dispense medication on a cash basis in case medical aids do not reimburse them.
From May 2, health workers who dispense medication must have a licence to dispense medication, unless in an emergency. The regulations form part of a set of laws designed the make drugs more affordable and to stamp out financial incentives offered to doctors by pharmaceutical companies.
At its executive committee meeting, in consultation with Sama, on April 15, the SAMDP said it has resolved that ”doctors should exercise caution on dispensing drugs to medical aid patients, as they may not be paid for those drugs, and not accept medical aid cards and rather accept cash from May 3 2004 until further notice.
”We have to plan a march to the Union Buildings and other government facilities during first week of May. There should be closure of surgeries for two to three days in the first of May.”
Only a small percentage of doctors and health-care workers have applied for the licences, which are only granted on completion of a distance learning course on dispensing medicine. They say the process is unnecessary, bureaucratic and expensive.
However, the Department of Health has said that more than 5 000 of the estimated 11 000 dispensing doctors have already applied for the dispensing course, a requirement for the actual licence.
An enquiry to the Department of Health on the actual number of licences issued was not answered, but the National Convention on Dispensing (NCD) said that papers filed recently in response to the challenge to the laws showed that only 13 had been granted.
Medical aids have said they will pay for medication dispensed by the dissenting doctors as long as they have a practice number, but the Board of Healthcare Funders, which issues the numbers, is currently revising its numbering system to reflect possession of the dispensing licence.
And the Health Professionals Council of South Africa says that it would be obliged to launch an inquiry, which could lead to censure, if the Department of Health lodges a complaint against doctors violating the law.
The NCD is planning to take the matter to the Constitutional Court. — Sapa