PHARMACIST Glenwayne Suchit, head of the two-year-old Private Pharmacy Retail Business Association (PPRBA), says he is placing full confidence in the Prime Minister’s commitment to address what he views as a rapidly consolidating monopoly in the pharmaceutical sector.

Suchit told Newsday he was concerned that market concentration has reached the point where too many independent pharmacies are struggling to survive, consumers are feeling the effects in rising prices, and regulators must now confront structural issues long left unmanaged.

Speaking at his San Juan pharmacy three days after appearing before Parliament’s Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) on December 1, Suchit said he believes the new administration has correctly diagnosed the problem.