The NCD, which represents about 6 000 general practitioners (GPs) who have permits to dispense medicines, served the Department of Health with court papers last month, following numerous talks that failed to find a solution acceptable to all parties. Yesterday was the deadline for the department to submit a reply to the affidavit filed by the NCD. NCD chairman Norman Mabasa said an agreement in principle had been reached that there should be a proclamation of a new figure. He said the Minister and her team said the NCD must not withdraw the court case until what has been agreed on was in writing. The NCD will ask its lawyers to grant the department an extension to respond to the affidavit. The cap for the 30 percent has not yet been set, but it is expected to be more than R60. since 2004 the dispensing fee for doctors has been 16 percent for items of more than R100, which practitioners said made their business unviable. Last year the Department of Health reviewed the dispensing fee and ruled that doctors should charge R16 maximum for items of less than R125. For more costly items the fee was not supposed to exceed R20. The NCD declined the offer and proceeded with legal action. The latest agreement will be discussed by the pricing committee before a formal recommendation is submitted to Hogan. The process should take at least 6 weeks. 

The NCD used the meeting to raise another thorny issue with Hogan: dispensing licences. At present, doctors are expected to renew their dispensing licences every three years, at a cost of R3 400. The doctors yesterday asked Hogan to consider abolishing the renewal requirement altogether, or stipulate that licences should instead be renewed every five years. The Department of Health would not comment yesterday, saying Hogan's legal adviser would issue a statement today on the outcome of the meeting. Although Hogan's swift action is welcome, it is puzzling thst she has chosen to find a solution with doctors ahead of pharmacists, whose complaints about the dispensing fee have been unresolved for years. Pharmacists refused to accept the 26 percent fixed fee that the department of health tried to impose on them five years ago. For now, they decide what fee to charge. The matter is expected to return to court next month. Last month the Pharmaceutical Society of SA said it was keen to reach an out-of-court settlement with the government.