Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
NHS hit for millions by overcharging 'scam'
Drug companies exploit loophole in the law to hike prices by as much as 2,000 per cent
Drugs companies have been accused of "highway robbery" of the NHS by using a legal loophole
to push up the price of medicines in some cases by up to 2,000 per cent - at a cost to the
taxpayer of tens of millions a year.
At least 15 drugs have substantially increased in price after being "flipped" from one firm to
another, according to information obtained by doctors.
The legal "scam" has prompted outrage from the British Medical Association - which has warned
that vital treatments risk being denied to patients if costs rise so much that the NHS
can no longer afford them.
The controversial practice involves big-pharma firms selling on medicines commonly used by
the NHS to businesses acting outside the Government's price-regulation scheme. The purchasing
firms are then free to mark up the prices they charge the NHS.
In one of the worst cases, the cost of an epilepsy drug prescribed to thousands of patients by the
health service was increased by 24 times the original price. Meanwhile, testosterone patches
given to both men and women suffering from hormone imbalances jumped from £26 per 300g
to a £395 after being sold on. And the price of a medication used to treat mental-health problems
such as anxiety and schizophrenia rocketed from around £4 per five millilitres to £23 -
a mark-up of 607 per cent.
Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
how disgusting is that
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Brian Dixon
- Location: Dover
- Registered: 23 Sep 2008
- Posts: 23,940
that's a bit of old news,goverment and joe public have known about it for at least 25 years.
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
Incompetence by the NHS.
You cannot blame drug companies for being cleverer than the bureaucrats.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
Ripping us all off
that's ok then barryw??
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DT1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 15 Apr 2008
- Posts: 1,116
What if the drug companies are also 'cleverer' than private health care providers?
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
Private medical companies have better cost controls in place, they have to.
Keith - the companies will do what they legally can to maximise profits and, yes - that is fine. Here we have a problem with the NHS which has massive purchasing power but appalling cost controls and it is up to them to get their house in order.
Guest 714- Registered: 14 Apr 2011
- Posts: 2,594
Just another example of public sector mismanagement, spending other people's money is easy
DT1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 15 Apr 2008
- Posts: 1,116
Barry, that is exactly the reason why people are concerned.
David, I couldn't agree more about mismanagement but what we have to remember is that the private sector is pretty good as mismanagement in spending our money too - we only have to look at the railways; or the way current private healthcare provideder use the state provision to train their staff or even emergency transfers from private 'routine' operations to NHS emergency facilities. (Can anyone tell me where our nearest private A&E department is?)
Yes the NHS does waste money, yes it does need massive reform. However it is the inability to see the difference between what the NHS is and it service.
The analysis is always based on "I went to a bad hospital, had bad treatment" therefore the NHS is rubbish. "I went to a good hospital, had good treatment" therefore it is good. People should be reminded that the 'H' in NHS doesn't, stand for hospital.
No one can shy away for the fact that things are seriously broken in some areas, but removing funding and then standing back and saying "look I told you it was rubbish" is hardly reform. People do see the NHS as sacrosanct, I would even go as far as to say it's a part of our national identity. It can be rubbished or referred to as a sacred cow, but then so can our monarchy or royal military bands - all of which enough of our nation believe to be important and ultimately form our identity.
When people bang on about the Jubilee or something as simple as a wedding making them proud to be British, I feel the same about other things, like the supporters of the NHS.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
there have been well documented cases of one authority paying a lot more money for things(not just drugs) than a neighbouring authority.
i believe there should be a centralised buying department staffed by people who have a track record in the field and know how to use the massive purchasing power that the n.h.s. has.
Guest 714- Registered: 14 Apr 2011
- Posts: 2,594
Good morning to my stalker aka DT1
The NHS is the hottest political potato, if party A pledges £1m then party B automatically pledges £1.1m. To criticise the NHS is to be accused of eating babies, when most of us would agree it is massively top heavy and inefficient.
Where to start - I don't know, but lets start somewhere
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
Start by privatising the NHS and bring in an insurance funded system such as they have in Europe (not...the USA). That is how to start David.
Private companies, DT1, do have far better cost controls, generally, than the public sector, it is a matter of survival, not to do so means bankruptcy. The public sector does not have such disciplines. They also are far more efficient and employing two people to do the job of one would bankrupt the business.
Howard of course of spot-on but centralised purchasing might solve one problem but creates another one of an increased central control.
Guest 655- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,247
Just seen an interesting article relevant to this by Fraser Nelson. I have not had the time to read it properly yet myself, just a glance, but it seems that even Fraser is not radical enough..... though he recognises the problems and goes some way towards what is needed.
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/2013/07/all-else-has-failed-we-have-to-liberalise-the-nhs/Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
# 3104..........``.You cannot blame drug companies for``.....kind of sums up what makes you tick Barry....
Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
It`s those Finance Johnnies again..............
Courtesy Independent.........
Britain leads Europe for the most fat-cat bankers
Britain has three times as many highly paid bankers than the rest of Europe put together,
according to new figures likely to reopen the dispute over City pay.
Data from the European Banking Authority, the EU regulator, suggested Britain had 2,436 bankers
earning more than €1m (£860,000) - a figure thought to be reflective of London's pull as a major
financial centre. Next was Germany, which managed to maintain Europe's biggest economy with
just 170 highly paid financiers, a figure 14 times lower than that in the UK. France, meanwhile,
had just 162. In eight countries in the EU, no bankers received more than €1m.
Nearly three-quarters of the 2,436 British financiers who received more than €1m were classified
as working in investment banking, while 85 worked in retail banking, 182 in asset management
and 360 in other business areas. The new data shows that over three times more was paid out
in bonuses than in fixed salaries in the City, which would appear to breach the bonus cap that
is being introduced from next year.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
You read posts on here and it really does get you thinking,
Highest paid bankers and that appears ok by some
Privatise NHS oh dear a step to far,
interesting on this one David doesn't know where to start.
DT1 has some interesting points, and theres not many that would disagree that the NHS needs change.
The private route is unlikely to be any better, probably be worse
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Guest 714- Registered: 14 Apr 2011
- Posts: 2,594
Where should we start Keith?
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
Thought you was the only one that knew everything
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Guest 714- Registered: 14 Apr 2011
- Posts: 2,594
Ahhh abuse already eh Keith.
Come on, 25 years a snout in the trough councillor, you accuse me of not knowing where to start:
Where would you start?
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
theres no abuse in my posts
look at post 3119 that's abuse your a professional at it
you said in a post you wouldn't know where to start not me I just acknowledged it
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