DHL abandons CSO scheme

Simone Roberts

The company said on Friday that it would not claim CSO funds for distributing PBS medicines for "the time being".

The announcement followed a meeting earlier that day between the CSO distributors, the Department of Health and Ageing and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, at which certain aspects of the eligibility criteria were clarified.

But a spokesperson for DHL said its decision was "completely separate" from matters arising from the meeting.

"The decision was partly due to Alphapharm's announcement to terminate the relationship with DHL and Central Hospital Supplies to supply and deliver PBS medicines to pharmacies across Australia," the company said in a statement.

DHL, whose involvement in the scheme was criticised by the three major wholesalers, said it would now focus on addressing any confusion in the industry about its CSO delivery model.

Patrick Davies, head of the National Pharmaceutical Services Association, said that DHL's exit from the scheme was the right outcome.

"We have consistently said that the intent of the scheme was to compensate the three full-line wholesalers for the additional cost of delivering all PBS medicines to all pharmacies. We had concerns about DHL's bona fides," he said.

The Guild had also raised concerns over DHL's CSO model.

"We welcome competition; we just want to make sure it's along the lines of what we signed up to in the Guild-government agreement," said Guild president Kos Sclavos.

DHL said it would keep delivering medicines directly to market for companies including GSK and Pfizer.