Antitrust office to start proceedings against medicine wholesalers

The Czech antitrust office has said that will begin administrative proceedings against companies that halted medicine supplies to three teaching hospitals. The bureau will be attempting to uncover whether the companies entered into a cartel agreement. The announcement was made on Monday by the antitrust bureau's Martin Pecina, but the Czech Association of Wholesale Drug Distributors, has denied any cartel agreement. Two weeks ago four medicines wholesalers stopped supplies to three Czech hospitals over outstanding debt (Prague's Bulovka and Thomayer teaching hospitals and the St Ann Teaching Hospital in Brno). They owe distributors 400 million crowns - the equivalent of almost 17 million US dollars.

One of the four members of the association, Pharmos, resumed supplies, but is expected to halt them again this week.

The country's health minister, David Rath, is among those who suspect the medicines distributors of a cartel agreement. But, Mr Rath himself has come under criticism by the International Association of Pharmaceutical Companies, which has likened his plan to select a sole supplier as breaching rules of economic competition.