Madam, - Your Editorial of October 19th shows a stunning lack of balance. You correctly point out that methadone patients are a marginalised group in society. For the past decade I and other community pharmacists have looked after these people, but your newspaper has never once given us an ounce of credit for doing so. To come in from the sidelines now and vilify us for withdrawing from the methadone service smacks of a double standard. Your contention that this service is not affected by proposed HSE reforms misses an important point.
The majority of methadone patients are decent people, but undeniably a minority can be troublesome and dangerous. Pharmacists have been threatened, beaten and even stabbed with syringes. The HSE has remained largely indifferent to such incidents. However, the last straw for me has been its refusal to negotiate fully with the Irish Pharmaceutical Union, because without such negotiation the methadone scheme's inherent problems will not be addressed.
The HSE's stance that competition law prevents negotiation with the IPU may or may not be legally correct, but it is wrong, and if necessary the law should be changed. Pharmacists earn most of their income from State schemes and are as dependent on the State for economic survival as teachers or civil servants. To deny us the right to unionise and to bargain collectively is clearly unfair. The actions of the Competition Authority to stifle protest border on the sinister. Your reference to "bully-boy tactics" by pharmacists could more aptly be applied to the Competition Authority. I know of pharmacists engaged in legitimate union activity who are shredding documents and wiping e-mails for fear of prosecution. The Progressive Democrats may now be closer to Berlin than to Boston, but it is Berlin c. 1938.
I greatly regret the necessity to refer my methadone patients back to HSE clinics. I have always treated them with friendship and respect. They have responded likewise, and every one of them has respected my decision. In this matter, Madam, their opinion counts infinitely more than yours. - Is mise,
SEAMUS O MORDHA,
Templeogue,
Dublin 6.