Medicinal chemistry

A payment dispute between the Turkish government and the country's pharmacies has been resolved after several weeks of talks and long-simmering tension. 

The tension in the payment dispute between the Turkish government and the country's pharmacies has risen, with the latter setting a March 31 deadline for selling drugs within the coverage of social security if their list of demands is not accepted. 

The general secretary of the Turkish Pharmacists' Association (TEB) has said pharmacies across the country will stop providing Syrian refugees with free medication unless concrete steps are taken to institute a new protocol, as pharmacies have not been paid for six months.

Pharmacies in Turkey will soon provide counseling services to women subjected to violence as part of a campaign called "violence is a crime, ask for help."

The Greek association of pharmacies has issued a statement assuring Greeks there are no drug shortages, in an effort to stem concerns on the first day of capital controls.

Pharmacies in Athens will be closed on Wednesday in protest at the government?s plans to allow non-prescription drugs to be sold in other stores.

The measure was included in the proposals sent by the current coalition to is lenders last week. The previous government had also been poised to adopt the reform but met with resistance from pharmacists.

The Turkish Health Ministry banned the sale of cancer drugs in pharmacies as of July 1. They will now only be provided in the hospitals, in order to "prevent malpractice."

Hospital workers and pharmacists on Friday joined the growing list of those concerned about the legislative decree forcing public bodies to deposit their cash reserves at the Bank of Greece so the central government can use them to pay debt obligations.

Police in Agrinio, western Greece, have arrested two suspects, aged 33 and 32, for stealing more than 1,700 pills after breaking into a pharmacy.

The two suspects also stole 50 euros from the cashier, police said.

During a search at the house of the 33-year-old, police found 808 tablets, a number of which had been taken from the store on Tuesday.

Doctors, pharmacists, diagnostic centers and private clinics have been fined more than 2 million euros since 2012 for breaching prescription rules, Health Minister Makis Voridis revealed Friday.