AMA accuses government of putting patients second over chemist backtrack

The Australian Medical Association has accused the Morrison government of putting patients second after a plan to make chemist visits easier was ditched.

The proposal was going to let patients collect two months of scripts in a single chemist visit, doubling the number of tablets that can be dispensed.

The Pharmacy Guild has been campaigning against the plan and Health Minister Greg Hunt has shelved it.

So notwithstanding that it would be a real benefit to patients, the federal government has caved in because they’ve been lobbied out of it?
– Ross Stevenson talking with the AMA’s Tony Bartone

Dr Tony Bartone from the AMA told Ross and John the patient will be the big loser.

“I can’t see how that really can be justified,” he said.

“Significantly, when the communication of this decision, the reversal, has been made after a very large full-page ad was taken out by the guild in yesterday’s dailies.”

Click PLAY for the full interview