SHENZHEN will establish a pharmacist blacklist system to regulate its pharmaceutical industry, according to the city’s drug administrators.
Pharmacists who cheat in the pharmaceutical work license exams, obtain the license through improper means, such as fraud and bribery, or alter, sell or lend their licenses will be blacklisted, said the city’s drug administration.
If pharmacists sell fake and low-quality medicines, dispense medicines in an improper way, sell special medicines and prescription medications containing doping substances to teenagers, or violate professional standards and ethics, they will be put on the blacklist, according to the new regulations.
Blacklisted pharmacists will not be allowed to apply for a pharmaceutical work license for one year. They may be removed from the blacklist and regain their license a year later after participating in a training program organized by Shenzhen Pharmacist Association, or an institution otherwise authorized by the drug administration, and pass the examinations. Serious violators will be banned from working as a pharmacist in Shenzhen for three years.
Pharmacies in Shenzhen must have at least two licensed pharmacists. Pharmacists must be on duty when a drugstore opens for business. The working time of a pharmacy must be announced at a drugstore, according to local regulations.
Shenzhen has about 12,000 licensed pharmacists, of which 8,000 are members of Shenzhen Pharmacist Association. But the city still has a 20-percent shortfall in the number of pharmacists needed to properly serve the city, drug administrators said.
This is largely attributable to the compensation — pharmacists in Shenzhen are poorly paid. Average monthly wage for a pharmacist in the city ranges from 1,500 yuan (US$244) to 3,000 yuan. That is far lower than the average wage of a medicine salesperson or a pharmacist at a hospital.
Industry insiders urge increasing pharmacist salaries to enhance their sense of self worth and better their lifestyle.
(Anne Zhang)
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