A legal tussle between between the Independent Community Pharmacy Association (ICPA) and Clicks on pharmacy ownership and patient rights will be heading to the Constitutional Court on 1 September.
This follows the SCA upholding an appeal against a decision of the Western Cape High Court last year on whether the Clicks Group had contravened the Pharmacy Act by owning a drug-making facility. The Citizen reports that the Clicks Group owns 100% of Clicks Retail, a chain of about 600 pharmacies, including Unicorn Manufacturing.
The ICPA, a non-profit company representing the interests of more than 1,200 independent pharmacies, had lodged a complaint with the Health Department against Clicks, calling for Unicorn’s manufacturing licence to be revoked. Unicorn holds 39 generic medicines under the regulatory regimes that apply to the sale of medicines.
The ICPA secured a legal victory in June 2020 when the court ruled that Clicks’ corporate structure contravened certain regulations under the Pharmacy Act, prohibiting companies with beneficial interest in community pharmacies from directly or indirectly owning manufacturing pharmacies.
Full report in The Citizen – ICPA vs Clicks battle heads to Constitutional Court (Open access)
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Clicks Group’s SCA wins appeal over ICPA complaint on pharmacies
Clicks buys Pick n Pay’s retail pharmacy business
CMS backs patients’ rights to independent healthcare providers