Estonia, Legislation, Markets and Companies, Medicine, Technology

"The State Agency of Medicines threatened to enforce a penalty payment of up to 6,000 euros per day if we don't stop offering the pharmacy service via a video bridge in Luunja and Kavastu," a member of the board of Terve Pere Apteek, Kadri Ulla, said in a press release.

According to Ulla the agency also threatened to take away the company's activity license which would mean that 85 Apotheka pharmacies would have to be closed down. She added that therefore the company has to take the dispute to the court.

Terve Pere Apteek has developed a solution where a pharmacist consults a patient via a video bridge, Ulla said. All the medications that were issued were checked by a professional and the pharmacist was assisted by a customer service representative who had passed a special training, she added.

"According to the State Agency of Medicines it is not acceptable that a customer service representative takes a medication from the shelf and shows it to the pharmacist via a webcam as the representative is not allowed to touch a medication box," Ulla said.

According to Ulla, it is almost impossible to find pharmacists to work in rural areas, especially in the summer, therefore it is very difficult to keep pharmacies open in rural areas. But the new solution helps the company to keep pharmacies open, she added.

The Apotheka trademark is used by more than 170 pharmacies across Estonia. The trademark is owned by Magnum AS, the owner of which, Up Invest, also owns the news agency BNS.