One of Italy's top supermarket chains said on Friday that thanks to a new law, it would soon begin selling its own brand, cut-price non-prescription drugs.
In a direct challenge to Italy's powerful pharmacy lobby, Coop Italia said it would start out with its own brand of aspirin costing up to 50% less than that found in chemists.
Coop Italia Chairman Vincenzo Tassinari warned that the project would take time, mainly because of red tape stemming from a series of permits and authorisations required.
"A Coop-brand aspirin is a first, specific goal and we will do everything possible to speed up the process so that consumers will be able to benefit as soon as possible," he said.
In the meantime, Coop plans to open what it has dubbed 'Health Corners' in three of its superstores by the end of the month.
The superstores, in the northern cities of Carpi and Ferrara and the southern port city of Bari, will sell some 300 types of non-prescription drugs at prices that will be up to 25% lower than pharmacy prices.
The Coop has hired three pharmacists for each Health Corner, who will be on hand to help and advise customers. Government plans to allow supermarkets to sell cheap, non-prescription drugs has sparked a revolt among pharmacists, who have staged three strikes in protest.
Under the current system, Italy's 16,500 pharmacies are the only outlets allowed to sell medicines. The new rules are contained in a wide-reaching government deregulation decree which was definitively approved by parliament on Thursday.
The chemists say the reform is "against the interests of public health", arguing that it will encourage Italians to buy more and unnecessary drugs. They also fear they could eventually be squeezed out of the market by multinationals.
But the decree is supported by the National Movement of Independent Pharmacists (MNLF), a group representing some 33,000 young pharmacists trying to break into a closed system based on hereditary permits.
The MNLF explained recently that permits to open up new pharmacies cost 3-4 million euros so that newly qualified pharmacists who had no prospects of inheriting a permit were practically excluded from the market.
"Their only choice is to marry the son or daughter of apharmacist or work for one but on a factory wage," MNLF said.
It said the Bersani decree was a "timid move in the right direction" because it would break the monopoly. It stressed it would open up more job choices for graduates since supermarkets wishing to sell drugs will be required by law to have qualified pharmacists on hand.
The decree has also been championed by consumer rights' groups who say it will save Italian families up to 1,000 euros a year.
The legislation aims to jump-start the economy by deregulating certain parts of the service sector and breaking anti-competitive practices in several protected areas.
Among other things, it will increase Italy's small fleet of taxis, prevent banks from charging customers for closing down their accounts, allow insurance agents to offer policies of more than one company and abolish the minimum fee regime adopted by lawyers, thus opening the way for no-win, no-fee practices in Italy.
The decree will also simplify the sale of second-hand cars, boats and motorcycles by eliminating the costly involvement of a notary to verify the sale. Premier Romano Prodi has said it will allow Italy to "lose 10 kilos of fat and gain 5 kilos of muscle".
