15 August 2019 - Former ACCC chief Graeme Samuel has slammed governments for bowing to the Pharmacy Guild's "political blackmail" at the expense of consumers, calling for deregulation to open the sector to competition and deliver cheaper medicines.

Professor Samuel, now an academic at Monash University, backed demands from discount chain Chemist Warehouse and convenience stores for Health Minister Greg Hunt to loosen the rules that protect small local pharmacies.

He said Australians were paying far too much for their PBS medicines due to the "anti-competitive regulations" in the sector, maintained over decades of "unashamed" lobbying of all levels of government by the powerful Guild.

"Pharmacists have been protected for so long, they're the most powerful union in Australia," he said.

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