Call For Chemists To Come Clean On Drug Mark-ups

Hidden mark-ups charged by pharmacists for prescribed drugs have prompted a call for an investigation into the extra costs consumers pay for medicine.

Woolworths To Move On To Chemists' Turf

As part of its push into Australia's $9 billion pharmaceutical industry, Woolworths expects to be operating a full pharmaceutical service inside one of its supermarkets within a year and will immediately begin increasing its existing health and beauty sections in 100 other stores.

Oil Companies' Greed Spoilt Their Own Show

The Iraqi conflict may have been a convenient pretext to give the oil companies a bit of stick, but there is no doubt that what both the Treasurer, Paul Keating, and the Price Surveillance Authority are really after is the return of the good old days of petrol discount wars. The PSA inquir

Chemists Cut Drug Price To Lure Addicts

Some Sydney chemists are slashing the cost of the tranquilliser Rohypnol by up to 20 per cent to attract young teenagers who abuse the drug, according to the president of the Pharmacy Board, Mr Ken Bickle. And even though the State Government's pharmacy watchdog has known of the practice f

Fewer Chemists Would Be Cheaper

People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices. - Adam Smith, 1776 Scratch a small-businessman and you find a socialist; scratch a professional and you fin

The Subtle Path To Price-cutting Chemists

THANK GOODNESS the business community has finally won its battle to save pensioners from the depredations of the fringe benefits tax. We can expect a lull before it resumes its magnanimous crusade to save the RSPCA from the same fate. The great thing about this breather in the war of FBT bald