UK drug companies fined £260m for inflating prices for NHS

[Still Waters]

The UK’s competition watchdog has imposed fines totalling more than £260m on pharmaceutical companies after an investigation found that they overcharged the NHS for hydrocortisone tablets for almost a decade.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found that the drug’s makers Auden Mckenzie and Actavis UK, now known as Accord-UK, used their position as the sole providers of hydrocortisone to inflate the price of the drug. Tens of thousands of people in the UK depend on hydrocortisone tablets to treat adrenal insufficiency, which includes life-threatening conditions such as Addison’s disease, the CMA said.

The investigation found that the companies were able to inflate the price of hydrocortisone tablets by more than 10,000% compared with the original branded version on sale in 2008. This meant the amount the NHS had to pay for a single pack of 10mg tablets rose from 70p in April 2008 to £88 by March 2016.

The companies also paid would-be rivals to stay out of the market, the watchdog found.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jul/15/uk-drug-companies-fined-260m-overcharging-nhs

[Eldorado]

Filthy greedy pigs.

[aztek]

i read an article a while back that our hospital buy meds where ever they can find them cheaper, and in many cases they end up being and using substandard drugs, that do not work as good, or sometimes even cause harm,  if drugs for  you nhs  became 100 times more expensive, i have little doubts amount bought for that price was a lot lower than when it cost 100 less, but hospitals and medical providers bought same cheap substandard stuff that our hospital buy. 

https://www.devex.com/news/sponsored/poor-quality-medicine-a-global-pandemic-90265

https://www.ashp.org/-/media/assets/policy-guidelines/docs/guidelines/medication-cost-management-strategies-hospitals-health-systems

https://www.aarp.org/health/drugs-supplements/info-2016/counterfeit-prescription-drugs-rx.html

[Still Waters]

Here's another one.

Drug firm fined for huge price rise that hit NHS

Quote

A drug company that increased the price of a crucial thyroid remedy more than 10-fold has prompted fines of more than £100m by the competition watchdog.

Advanz pushed up the price of thyroid tablet packs from £20 in 2009 to £248 in 2017, making the drug unaffordable for the NHS.

It "exploited a loophole enabling it to reap much higher profits", the Competition and Markets Authority said.

The fine applies to Advanz and two private equity firms.

The CMA said its latest fine sent "a clear message" to the pharmaceutical sector that breaking the law would not be tolerated.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58009149

[Silver]

On 7/15/2021 at 10:22 PM, Eldorado said:

Filthy greedy pigs.

I agree 100%!

I just hope people don't start calling for the NHS to be abolished on the grounds that private companies could do better- the answer is to stamp out this exploitation, not put it on a legal footing.