The controversial new medicine regulations will come under the spotlight at the Constitutional Court on Thursday as dispensing doctors challenge sections that force them to register and complete new dispensing courses.
Various aspects of the regulations, which came into force in May to bring down the cost of medicines, have been rejected by health practitioners and pharmacists.
Thursday’s application will be for leave to appeal against the decision of the Pretoria High Court relating to the constitutional validity of certain provisions of the Act relating to compounding and dispensing medicines.
The application will be brought by the Affordable Medicines Trust, which acts in the interests of medical practitioners; the National Convention on Dispensing; and medical practitioner Norman Mabasa.
The respondents are the minister and director general of health.
In the High Court, the applicants said the laws violate the dispensing doctors’ constitutional rights of equality, human dignity, freedom of movement, the right to practise one’s profession freely and the protection against arbitrary deprivation of property.
They also said it confers ”arbitrary licensing powers” on the director general and that Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang exceeded her powers in regulating the dispensing of medicines.
The Department of Health felt that under the old laws, registered medical practitioners were not adequately regulated and there were no standards to ensure they complied with good dispensing practices.
Meanwhile, in a statement the Department of Health urged dispensing health practitioners to complete their dispensing courses so that their registration could be completed.
”We are confident that despite the opposition to transformation of the health sector, we will be able to achieve the objectives of this Act — to make safe, affordable, quality medicine available to all South Africans,” departmental spokesperson Sibani Mngadi said. — Sapa