The public has the right to choose their service provider. The prescriber has the right to choose what medication to use for treating his patient. The prices charged by pharmaceutical companies need to be regulated together with the prices charged by by prescribers it should have been done back in 2002 as it was proposed to regulate prescribers fees, cost of medicines charged by drug companies and prices charged by pharmacists; up to now the pharmacist has been regulated but the other parties not. It appears to the public that it is the pharmacists who are making big profits when the opposite is true and they can barely scrape a living. We have lost so many pharmacies and the big pharmacy groups only survive because of front shop income.
The Medical aid schemes annually boast the profits that they make annually! They need to respect the choice of the public of a service provider and physician and not have to be forced to receive medicine from couriers who do not observe control and storage of medicines according to the regulations and continue to supply customers with incomplete orders that are also not maintaining the cold-chain or a temperature of less than 25degrees C.

#26: -  

 Medical aids are dictating what must happen. What ever happened to freedom of choice!  I contacted GEMS yesterday in connection with a member who now had to receive their chronic medication from another supplier or pay a levy

I also phoned another medical aid in connection with ARV treatment and there it was also a case of receive/collect your medication from "A" or pay a 40% co-payment when receiving it elsewhere!