Only 30 medicines are actually 'out of stock'

Only 30 out of the list of 692 medicines which Labour said were out of stock are actually missing from government's shelves, the Health secretariat said yesterday.

During a political meeting two weeks ago, Labour Leader Joseph Muscat had said that pharmacies taking part in the Pharmacy of Your Choice Scheme were sent a list of 692 medicines which the Health Department has run out of.

On Sunday, the Labour Party published the list of medicines.

However, in a statement, the secretariat said the list of medicines was sent out as a guideline which listed products included in the scheme and others which were not.

Out of the listed 692 products, around 400 cannot be collected in the POYC and only 30 medicines are out of stock while the remaining 260 items are available at the government's central medical stores, the statement said.

The term "out of stock" was misunderstood, the secretariat contended.

Around 700 medical products are distributed to patients through the POYC scheme, from 67 participating pharmacies. The secretariat said it is reviewing the scheme following feedback from the pilot project to make it more efficient.

The Labour Party later pointed out that the government's statement confirmed that the 692 products were unavailable for pharmacists participating in POYC.

That the government's reply arrived five days after Dr Muscat published the list confirms the government's state of confusion, Labour said.