INVERSION IN DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS ON THE POLISH PHARMACEUTICAL MARKET – MECHANISMS OF COUNTERACTING ILLEGAL EXPORT OF MEDICINAL PRODUCTS

Subject and purpose of work: The subject matter of the study is irregularities in the distribution channels of medicinal products, medical devices and foodstuffs for particular nutritional uses. The inversion of distribution on the Polish pharmaceutical market has taken the form of illegal export of medicinal products, becoming one of the main aspects of cross-border crime. The purpose of the study is to identify the causes, present the essence and point to the effects of uncontrolled exports of pharmaceuticals for the Polish medicinal products supply system. Materials and methods: The fulfilment of the article's objective requires the application of the following research methods: literature analysis and criticism, legal document analysis and document examination. The application of these research methods makes it possible to present the results of the analyses and formulate conclusions on the impact of illegal export of medicinal products on the condition of the healthcare system in Poland. Results: When presenting the results of the analyses, it should be noted that so far pharmaceutical market supervision has proven insufficient and defective at every possible level. A tangible manifestation of the inefficiency of the supervision system are State budget losses of PLN 4 billion per year and the absence and deficiencies of the so-called deficit medicines in retail pharmacies, which the Ministry of Health estimates at 386 items. Conclusions: The sine qua non condition for the appropriate operation of the public healthcare system is to ensure effective supervision over the distribution process of medicinal products and adequate control over the entire pharmaceutical market. This cannot be achieved without an effective supervision system. Changing the previous supervision model to the integrated supervision system based on the connection of pharmaceutical supervision subsystems with the tax and labour inspection subsystems will make it possible to effectively counteract illegal exports of medicinal products