Posted by Michael Wonder on 21 Nov 2017
Is the NHS being taken for a ride on drug prices? We need to know
21 November 2017 - The competition watchdog is investigating, but we need a wider inquiry into pharmaceutical firms’ practices.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has discovered a rich seam for inquiries – pharmaceutical companies allegedly gouging the National Health Service.
Pfizer, together with a small UK company called Flynn Pharma, was fined £90m last December for “excessive and unfair” pricing of an anti-epilepsy drug. GlaxoSmithKline and two small firms were later hit for £45m for conspiring to delay competition on an antidepressant.
Now comes an accusation that the Canadian firm Concordia Healthcare abused its dominant position to overcharge the NHS on a thyroid treatment. The price of the drug rose by almost 6,000% while production costs remained “broadly stable,” says the CMA.
