The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville insisted yesterday that the government consulted with pharmacies before implementing changes to its price control regime, calling assertions from the opposition that the government did not do so “untrue.”

Dr Darville was responding to East Grand Bahama MP Kwasi Thompson in the House of Assembly yesterday who accused the government of expanding price controls with “absolutely no prior consultation with the effective stakeholders”.

However, the health minister called the comments “misleading” and insisted that he met with pharmacy stakeholders personally concerning the new policies.

“The honourable member for East Grand Bahama is misleading the Bahamian people,” Dr Darville said. “He made a statement that there was no prior consultation with the members of the pharmacy council and private pharmacists. That is untrue. That is absolutely untrue. I am speaking from the government perspective and I’m sitting from a point where I know.

“There has been consultation - I consulted with them personally. I met with them and the minister of economic affairs met with them. What you’re saying is untrue.”

Marco City MP Michael Pintard pointed out to Dr Darville that what he said in Parliament did not correspond to what pharmacy operators and food retailers had said publicly.

“Members of the business community, inclusive of those from the pharmaceutical industry, and food stores made the point that the government did not, one, conduct a study and two, they did not consult. If the member is asserting that persons who are not here to defend themselves are lying he ought to produce the minutes of the meeting,” Mr Pintard said.

“But those persons are not here to defend themselves and they said publicly that you did not consult with them.”

However, Dr Darville, who rose on a point of order, told the FNM MP that he was speaking “on what he read.”

He added: “I am speaking about what I know.”

Asked by Mr Pintard to lay the meeting minutes, the health minister replied: “I don’t have to lay a meeting. I’m telling you that we had the meeting. I was there. I was there. I had a meeting and the meeting I had was with the pharmacists that comes under the association so when you mention the word ‘lie’, you should withdraw that. It’s offensive.”

Still, Mr Pintard said he stood by his remarks and said he only asked Dr Darville a question.

“Madame Speaker, my question then to the member is given all of what we heard from our own ears from the pharmaceutical association, is he saying that they misled the public?” Mr Pintard continued.

In response, Dr Darville repeated his earlier marks, saying “this member had a meeting with the pharmacists, the pharmacy council as well as the association.”

He added, “The minister of economic affairs had a meeting with the pharmacy and the council. That is the facts.”

When asked if this was prior to the decision relating to the price control changes, Dr Darville replied: “Prior to the decision.”

To this, Mr Thompson then tabled and read the contents of a letter dated October 31 written by the Bahamas Pharmaceutical Association (BPA), advising the public of their temporary closure.

“This document was sent in response to a lack of consultation from the government,” Mr Thompson read from the letter.

Private pharmacies reopened after shutting down operations across the country on Tuesday after the government agreed to a meeting with government officials yesterday.

Their action was in response to the government’s expanded price control regime, which includes the reduction of the profit margin on price-controlled drugs.

The pharmaceutical industry, along with the food retail sector, has since submitted proposals with alternatives that could offer relief to Bahamians, but at the same time not hurt their businesses.