News of the week - DocMorris

Last week, a german court decided that the Dutch company "DocMorris" did not have to close its newly opened pharmacy in Saarbrücken. DocMorris started as an Internet pharmacy, offering its customers the possibility to order medication online and shipping the order home, all for prices that were much more attractive than thos of conventional pharmacies.

A few years ago, the company already won a lawsuit regarding shipping medicine to Germany. This time, a German pharmacist in Saarbrücken tried to stop DocMorris from opening a store there, argumenting that German law forbids persons without an official registration as German pharmacist to set up a pharmacy in Germany. DocMorris won the lawsuit based on European law that provides the freedom of settlement for all European citizens.

Interestingly, the so called Dutch company is actually more German than Dutch. It was founded by a Dutch pharmacist and a German IT professional (who recently started his own blog). The Dutch co-founder has already left the company though (he now leads the Online division of the Dutch "Kruidvat"). The current management is mainly German, and the main reason for founding the company in the Netherlands, were the price regulations for medicine that exist in German law. Through their settlement in the Netherlands, close to the German border, DocMorris can offer German patients low cost medicine. So in a way, Dutch law can provide German companies a competitive edge for business in Germany. This cannot be in the interest of the country.

Will this in the end lead to the highly necessary cost reform of the medical system in this country?