Invitation to treat Case Summary - Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Boots Cash Chemists (Southern) Ltd [1953] PDF

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Summary

Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Boots Cash Chemists (Southern) Ltd [1953] 1 QB 401 case summary - key case for principle of invitation to treat...

Description

Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Boots Cash Chemists (Southern) Ltd [1953] 1 QB 401. Name of Case

Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Boots Cash Chemists (Southern) Ltd [1953] 1 QB 401.

Citation and Court

Citation: Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain v Boots Cash Chemists (Southern) Ltd [1953] 1 QB 401. Court: Court of Appeal in England. Boots Cash Chemists operated a self-service pharmacy, allowing customers to select drugs and proceed to checkouts where a pharmacist would handle the transaction. The drugs were covered by s 18 of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act 1933 stipulating that certain drugs could only be sold to members of the public if the sale was ‘effected by, or under the supervision of a registered pharmacist’. It is also notable that the pharmacist was authorized by the pharmacy to prevent any person from removing any drugs from the premises.

Material Facts

Legal Issue

To determine whether the Pharmacy and Poisons Act 1933 was breached, the issue arises whether the display of drugs was an offer or an invitation to treat?

Relevant Law

Pharmacy and Poisons Act 1933 s 18.

Application of Law to the Facts

The Court ruled that the display of the item in the store was not an offer, but an invitation to treat. This means that there is no violation of s 18, as the registered pharmacist was made the offer by the customer at the checkout, thus having no violation of the Pharmacy and Poisons Act 1933 because the sale of the drug was effected under the control or supervision of a registered pharmacist.

Conclusion

Therefore, a display item is not considered as an offer, but an invitation to treat, where when the customer brings the item to a checkout, then it becomes an offer....