NHS paying over the odds for generic medicines

The British Generic Manufacturers Association has found that the NHS is paying around twice the amount that manufacturers charge for Category M products. Their report confirmed that drug tariff reimbursement prices for these products are an average of 1.93 times higher than the selling price charged by the manufacturer. It went on to confirm that for around 63% of the 485 Category M products analysed and matched with tariff prices from the NHS Electronic Drug Tariff data, the reimbursement price was between 40% and 100% higher than the manufacturer’s actual selling price.

Mike Hewitson, managing director of Beaminster Pharmacy in Dorset, said a price mark-up is “how the wholesaler system operates. The thing that’s concerning me gravely at the moment is the stability and fairness of that margin that the wholesalers are adding. If wholesale margins rise, for example, then money which should be going to pharmacy could be ending up in the pockets of wholesalers. We’ve got so many examples where prices are jumping two-, three- or four-fold overnight. I’ve seen ten-fold overnight and there’s no explanation for it. There’s a really strong case for more oversight and regulation of wholesale sector in particular.”