Pharmacy terminal in Hüffenhardt: machine with screen for video advice
Photo: Ralf Seidel / DocMorris / dpaThe first DocMorris pharmacy machine in Germany remains out of service. The mail-order pharmacy from the Netherlands had defended itself up to the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) against the ban on its machine in the Baden-Württemberg town of Hüffenhardt. The Karlsruhe judges, however, did not allow a revision and rejected several complaints from Docmorris.
The machine in the north Baden community, southeast of Heidelberg, started operating briefly in April 2017 in the converted rooms of a closed pharmacy. Customers were able to contact a pharmacist in the Netherlands via "pharmaceutical video advice". The drug then fell from a dispensing chute.
Just two days later, the Karlsruhe Regional Council intervened. After complaints by several pharmacists and the Baden-Württemberg State Pharmacists' Association, first the Mosbach Regional Court and then the Karlsruhe Higher Regional Court (OLG) banned the vending machine.
Sales model does not meet the regulations
The OLG did not allow a revision. With the complaints, Docmorris wanted to force a review by the highest civil judge of the BGH. For them, however, the case is so clear: the Higher Regional Court found without legal errors that the sales model did not meet the regulations.
The OLG judges had complained, among other things, that the drugs were temporarily parked in an attached warehouse. This also distinguishes the machine from a mail-order pharmacy - there the customer orders first, then the drug is shipped. In the case of the pharmacy machine, for example, there is no guarantee that the drugs will be stored safely.
The BGH judges found that Docmorris did not deal with these aspects in the complaints. They did not consider a submission to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) necessary.
Az. I ZR 123/19
Icon: The mirrorhej / dpa
