Pharmacists and physiotherapists are taking part in large numbers in the movement to close pharmacies and practices on Thursday to protest against the pay cuts and postponement of pay increases announced by the former Bayrou government to curb spiralling healthcare spending, unions have announced.
"Eighteen thousand pharmacies are closed" on Thursday morning, out of around 20,000 in France, according to Philippe Besset, president of the FSPF (Federation of Pharmacists), the profession's majority union.
"We are all generally closed, but the Regional Health Agencies have requisitioned around 10% from the network," he told AFP.
Pharmacists are denouncing the reduction in the discount rates they receive on generic drugs, which represent around a third of their pharmacies' profit margins. Since the beginning of September, the maximum authorized discount rate has been reduced from 40% to 30% of the manufacturer's price excluding taxes. It is expected to fall to 20% by July 2027.
They also denounce a new planned drop in generic prices, estimated at 50 million euros for the last quarter of 2025.
Participation in the movement is also massive among the 80,000 independent physiotherapists, according to Sébastien Guerard, president of the main union of the profession, the FFMKR.
"85% physiotherapists will be in the processions or participating in some way," he told AFP. However, the offices are not closed to the same extent, as practitioners are taking turns to avoid total closures.
The physiotherapists are protesting in particular against the postponement until January 1, 2026 of the price increases that were due to take place on July 1, 2025, due to the slippage in health spending.
Pharmacists and physiotherapists are organizing their own events in some cities.
In Besançon, several hundred pharmacists, physiotherapists and students held up placards on Thursday morning saying "We won't swallow the pill!"
"The survival of our pharmacies is at stake," assured Carole Mermet, co-president of the FSPF of Doubs. "Pharmacies have already closed, in Besançon, I think it's around ten."
In Paris, pharmacists began gathering at midday near the Ministry of Health. "In my small local pharmacy," the reduction in commercial discounts represents "5,000 to 6,000 euros in annual losses, or five months' rent," said Marc Sajus, a pharmacist in Courbevoie (Hauts-de-Seine). "Those who can't cope will have to lay off staff... And patients will queue up."
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