Tuesday, February 20, 2007

NHS 'pays too much to drug firms'
By Robert Peston
Business Editor, BBC New

The NHS is paying drug companies hundreds of millions of pounds too much for branded medicines, according to the Office of Fair Trading.

Since September 2005, the competition watchdog has been investigating the system by which
the Department of Health buys £7bn of branded medicines.

It has concluded the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) should be overhauled, the BBC has learned.

The OFT has found the scheme does not allow the NHS to get the best prices.

The OFT will present its conclusions to the Department of Health and the prime minister on Tuesday.

Because they are likely to affect the share prices of the UK's leading drug companies, they will be released to the Stock Exchange at 0700 GMT.

Cap on profits

The Department of Health does not have to accept the OFT's recommendations, but it is highly unlikely to reject them, given that hundreds of millions of pounds of public money are at stake.

However there is likely to be a blazing row with the major drug companies, who frequently complain that the NHS does not spend enough on their products.


THIS IS NOT UNKNOWN BUT PERHAPS SOMETHING WILL BE DONE ABOUT IT TO SAVE THE NHS CASH, ONE WONDERS HOW MANY OTHER COMPANIES THINK THE NHS IS AN OPEN CHEQUE BOOK...........?....................PERHAPS DHL WHO ARE TAKING ON NHS LOGISTICS HAVE THAT THOUGHT TO BOOST THEIR PROFITS................THIS SHOULD BE A SHOT ACCROSS THE BOW TO PRIVATE COMPANIES WHO WISH TO PROFIT AT THE COST OF THE NHS