The Bulgarian pharmaceutical industry was ready to strike over proposed price decreases in the new regulations for the registration and prices of medication, Bulgarian National Radio said on November 11 2007.

Lower prices would lead to the bankruptcy of pharmacies, the Bulgarian Pharmaceutical Union (BFU) said.

Leopold Schmudermaier, head of the Pharmaceutical Group of the European Union (PGEU) would visit Bulgaria on November 24 2007 for a special conference of the BFU, the union announced.

Schmudermaier had sent an open letter to the Health Ministry, saying that the new regulation would lead to lower quality pharmaceutical services and problematic access to medication for patients because of bankruptcies of pharmacies, caused by the proposed price decreases, a BFU media statement said.

The BFU said it was categorically against the proposed cut in surplus charges for pharmacies over the distribution and sales of medication.
At the BFU conference in November, rules and regulations for good pharmaceutical practise would be set. Following these rules would become impossible if Parliament would accept the current proposal, as pharmacies would not be able to afford to do so, BFU said.