The deadline for doctors to obtain dispensing licences was extended by the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday.
Doctors, who were supposed to have obtained the licence by Tuesday, now have until July 2 to do so.
Acting Judge Johann Kruger said while making his order that he was acutely aware of the gravity of suspending the regulations, but it would not be in the interests of justice to allow the regulations to come into force before he had decided on their constitutionality.
Kruger will rule on July 2 whether the regulations are constitutional or not.
Organisations representing dispensing doctors disputed the validity of the regulations in court over the last two days. They argued doctors had an inherent right to dispense medicine because of their qualifications.
However the state said doctors had no guaranteed right to dispense drugs.
Kruger told the court that in his view, the matter entailed constitutional issues of great importance to doctors, their patients and the public at large.
This is the second time that the deadline has been extended.
The deadline was initially May 2, but Judge President Bernard Ngoepe extended it to June 2 pending an application on the constitutionality of the new licensing dispensation.
Before the order was made, Hans Fabricius, SC, who argued on behalf of more than 11 000 medical practitioners, said thousands of doctors had not completed a course which was necessary for them to do before applying for the licence.
He said if Kruger granted the suspension, all parties, including the health department, would benefit because doctors would have time to complete the course and apply for the licence, and the department would have more doctors complying with the new regulations.
Marumo Moerane, SC, who argued on behalf of the state, said the applicants did not give a reason why doctors had not ensured that their licences were processed earlier. They have been able to apply for the licence since August last year.
”It is not a sound principle to hold the state at ransom by persons who deliberately do not comply with the law which is designed to protect the public because they wish to argue that some members of the public will suffer [because of the new regulations],” he said.
Doctors had had enough time to make applications.
After the ruling, the health department’s deputy director-general Dr Kamy Chetty said that the department would encourage doctors to use the extension of the deadline to complete the course in dispensing and apply for their licences.
”Don’t leave it to the last minute or you will find yourself in a situation where the best interest of patients are not being served,” Chetty said.
She said the department was disappointed that not many doctors had used the last extension to apply for the licence.
The application was made by the Affordable Medicines Trust, the National Convention on Dispensing, and practitioner Dr Mphata Norman Mabasa.
It was contested by nine respondents, including the minister and director general of health, the speaker of Parliament, the president of the country, the medicines Control Council of SA and the SA Pharmacy Council. – Sapa