Epress.am News from Armenia
The Armenian Health Ministry’s new decision, according to which a vast number of medications – including antibiotics, hormonal and codeine-containing medicines – will be sold by prescription only starting March 1, is illegal, Zhoghovurd newspaper writes.
The Ministry’s website has published the lists of drugs and medications that can be purchased with or without a prescription; officials, however, have made no reference to a legal act providing for these lists, since no such act actually exists.
According to the paper, the government has yet to adopt a corresponding decision, while the Health Ministry has already begun obliging doctors and pharmacies not to issue or sell drugs without a prescription.
“This is a situation envisaged by the RA criminal code in at least two instances – arbitrariness and abuse of power,” the paper writes.
Zoya Barseghyan, the head of the public relations department of the government, insisted in conversation with Zhoghovurd that the responsibility in this matter lies solely with the Ministry of Health.
“In other words, prime minister Karen Karapetyan is washing his hands of the illegal actions carried out by the ministry,” the paper concludes.
Armenpress, in turn, the Armenian Cabinet will on March 6 discuss the possibility of temporarily suspending the Health Ministry decision.