Shortly before the first Bundestag debate on the pharmacy reform, Federal Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU) dismissed criticism from medical associations. She told the broadcasters RTL and ntv that it is not politics or pharmacies alone that will decide which illnesses patients could be given medication for without a doctor’s prescription. Instead, a panel composed of doctors and pharmacists will set the guidelines. Warken urged the two professional groups to discuss matters more calmly and to view themselves more as a team.
The ministry pledged that the current regulation for over‑the‑counter medicines will stay in the law. The medical profession had complained that pharmacies are not clinically equipped to classify illnesses and therefore cannot dispense medication without a prescription as the legislation requires.
Warken announced that citizens would see the first results of the reform later this year. They would be able to acquire medication without a prescription for uncomplicated acute illnesses, and could also receive vaccinations such as tick‑borne encephalitis (FSME) and tetanus directly at the pharmacy.