“This is one of the measures aimed at the retail pharmaceutical market to ensure that in hospitals, where people receive the care they need, they can purchase medications at an affordable price. When you talk to hospital representatives, you see the rationale behind this. This could affect the prices of medicines for hospital patients,” the Lithuanian news portal Delfi.lt quotes the politician as saying.
The previous parliament attempted to legalize state-run pharmacies, but at that time, the amendments to the pharmacy legislation were not adopted. Currently, hospital pharmacies cannot sell medications to patients receiving outpatient treatment; they dispense medications only to inpatients.
Patients purchase medications at private chain pharmacies operating on hospital premises.
At present, the Lithuanian government owns only the University Pharmacy chain—which consists of four pharmacies in the capital, Vilnius.
