Geraldine Feeney (Fianna Fail)

I wish to follow up on a point made by Senator Browne on prescription validity and the point raised by Senator Henry. When a doctor prescribes a certain brand of drug, he or she should also write a note on the prescription to state if the particular brand is not available, another brand is to be used, possibly a generic drug. It would make it more economical, not for the pharmacist but certainly for the patient and for the State from the point of view of the General Medical Service.

I welcome the amendments on where a pharmacy can be situated, whether in a health centre or outside it. This is ground-breaking legislation and is new to all of us. It will settle down when it is implemented and we see it up and running. The ethical area will come into play. Pharmacists will be governed by their own ethical guide, as will doctors. If they are in breach of this ethical guide, they will face the rigours of a fitness to practise regime and, possibly, be found guilty of professional misconduct. Matters will settle down. Although I can understand the frustrations and worries expressed, when this new legislation pans out and is implemented, matters may not be as bad as we believe.

We have all heard the frightening stories of prescriptions being passed down a chute from a doctor's surgery to a pharmacy below. We have heard stories about patients being intimidated by being told that if they do not go to a certain pharmacy within a health unit, the doctor will not be able to get them a bed in a certain nursing home. These incidents occur but we do not condone them for one moment. They will be faced up to by doctors and pharmacists with their own regulatory authorities when such fitness to practise provisions are put in place.