Forum Topic

Will the Government not insist on a Cap for Pharmaceutical Companies.

It is a disgrace that whilst Pharmaceutical companies profits are soaring, Cancer Patients are at risk of not getting the treatment that they urgently need or tragically face death, unfortunately it would appear that even if they are lucky enough to obtain the treatment that is required it is to the detriment of patients with other diseases that need treatment. In effect these GREEDY Pharmaceutical Companies are condemning patients to death.Costs are continuing to rise, drugs used on Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia such as Glivec-which has proved so successful that patients who 10 years ago survived only for a few years can now look forward to a near normal life expectancy.Disgracefully the cost of Glivec has risen from  £18000 per patient per year to £21000.Despite the fact that all research costs were covered by the original price whilst bearing in mind that the number of patients also the length of time they are on the drug has vastly increased because of the drugs success. However much we need the development of New Drugs the greed of Pharmaceutical Companies and the continual rising costs are unsustainable to the NHS. When you consider that Imatinib(Clivec) has already made Billions for its maker.The Government must act now peoples lives are at stake.

Dawn Hardy ● 4753d17 Comments

The NHS do not get a discount.A bone of contention for governments over the last 40 years.Each time they get tough about costs to the NHS the multinationals simply threaten to pull out of the UK.Tens of thousands of jobs plus the prestige of R&D and univeristy research funding all at risk.I don't think all but the most brave of governments would risk it unless other countries in similar predicaments got tough in the same way.The disparity between R&D and profit remains huge

Raymond Havelock ● 4741d

I cannot understand why the NHS do not utilize the power that they should have by buying from Pharmaceutical Companies as a whole instead of each Hospital and Trust buying individually.How much discount could be obtained just by having a UK Purchasing Department of Medicines & Supplies, it really would not take that much organising. When you consider just how much is wasted in hospitals this has been shown by TV investigations, a good Purchasing Team could and would save a tremendous amount of money for the NHS.Whilst I completely understand profit is necessary for the Research & Development of New Drugs, Greed should not enter into the equation but what other name can be derived from Billions in Profit whilst patients are not receiving the  appropriate drugs because of overcharging. As you say David we can only hope and trust that he is competent. Goodness knows our NHS could do with a boost.

Dawn Hardy ● 4742d

"One hopes that the new Secretary of State for Health, who has had a successful background in business, is attempting to get these and other NHS costs under control."Well, they do say hope springs eternal, God help us.

Vanessa Smith ● 4742d

Dawn, Beechams are now part of Glaxo  Smith Kline whose headquarters are right here in Brentford. New drugs are indeed expensive to develop,test, certify and market. It is thanks to the drugs companies and the competition between them that new and better drugs are developed and millions of lives are saved worldwide.Profits made by the companies in the UK and other wealthy countries are used to fund  research, including research in UK universities, and to subsidise the marketing and distribution of drugs in countries where people are less able to afford them..In contrast to the UK, people in other European countries often have to pay for the full price of their drugs.Some European countries which have greatly expanded their health services without having the means to pay for them are in deep financial trouble.The NHS should have considerable purchasing power as it is amongst the largest customers for drugs in the world. One hopes that this power is used competently and properly . However I suspect that this may nit be the case and if that is so, the NHS and the UK private medical sector may indeed be paying too much for drugs.One hopes that the new Secretary of State for Health, who has had a successful background in business, is attempting to get these and other NHS costs under control.

David Giles ● 4742d

Reasonable Profit should never be ostracised however ,profits in Billions is bloody disgraceful especially when Patients welfare and lives are put at risk because of lack of funds due to overcharging.

Dawn Hardy ● 4747d

Vanessa totally agreed with you until:- Oops! - sorry I forgot they bankroll the Tory party - that would never do.This problem has not just occurred under Tory rule but has gone on forever, time for some kind of legislation to be put forward, yes it is good to make a profit however not to the detriment of the NHS and Patients.

Dawn Hardy ● 4747d

It took Beecham Pharmaceuticals 10 years at the cost of 80 Million Pounds to develop Augmentine(I will admit to incorrect spelling)in the 70's& 80's a brilliant drug and yes very expensive for Doctors to prescribe however well worth the expense. Beecham did not overcharge through greed purely expense, there is a vast difference between the cost of development and profit. Especially when the cost has already been appropriated initially.

Dawn Hardy ● 4747d

Sadly Vanessa I think your argument is somewhat intellectually simplistic - in global terms the NHS is not that an important customer and your comments about Novartis et al bank rolling the Tory party are naive at best.

Chris Broadbent ● 4748d

Most R&D and breakthroughs are from state funded research and part sponsored by pharmaceutical companies.The amount they put in to the amount the profit by is barely comparable.It it were not for outstanding research by UK universities and in particular NHS data and research, these companies would not be here.But the rest of the world is catching up fast and they could move out of the UK at the drop of a hat. Causing huge losses to employment.But the cost of retention is also high.

Michael Brandt ● 4748d

Yes, you did miss something.I have seen massive improvements in drug therapy during my lifetime. Many many people survive now who would have died a couple of generations ago. Those developments cost millions or even billions of pounds in research and testing. The drug companies need to make profits or they will cease to exist and the almost constant leaps forward in healthcare will cease with them.If you believe that the public sector can do as well, then maybe you should be nagging them to do the R&D rather than demonising the drug companies.

Susan Kelly ● 4748d

Sorry did I miss something? Eventually these big companies recoup the development costs but I have yet to hear of any of them charging a more realistic affordable price for their products. All these firms are the same - like banks etc. one mention of regulation and they throw a hissy fit and want to bog off to some other location. It is a lack of regulation that got us into the financial crisis, and I agree with the other post, all governments need to stand firm and not be held to ransom by these conglomerates. It isn't the NHS that will pay as such, it is us the taxpayers once again. I wonder how many of these companies could afford to lose the NHS as a customer? Their purchasing power must be colossal. Instead of faffing around with commissioning bodies and generally buggering things up the government should be turning its firepower on the obscene profits of pharmaceutical giants. Oops! - sorry I forgot they bankroll the Tory party - that would never do.

Vanessa Smith ● 4748d

Have you any idea how much it costs to develop and test a new drug? If you don't pay the pharmaceutical companies properly for their patents, then they will stop developing new treatments and then where will we be?If treatments work and bring genuine improvement in survival rates -- by which I mean quality time, not extra months spent shuffling back and forth to the hospital -- then you should be pressuring the NHS to pay for them, not demonising the drug companies.

Susan Kelly ● 4748d

It's heartbreaking to think that these conglomerates are able to hold us to ransom and yet charge exorbitant prices as they do.Moral Blackmail is a dreadful thing and yet we would all willing get into debt to try and keep a loved one alive.We can only hope and pray that governments worldwide will in time do as you suggest.

Dawn Hardy ● 4752d

THe problem is that we can have a cap but then run into the danger that they just won't sell us the drugs. We either need to reach and international agreement on price capping or heaven forbid try and restart our own pharma businesses.

Chris Broadbent ● 4752d

That maybe so, however this drug and many others are used a great deal within the UK so surely our government should be able to instigate a cap. We are probably the only country in Europe who right now continues to buy medicines, even Chemist shops in the EU are finding it very hard to fill prescriptions purely because they and the patients cannot afford it.Austerity has a lot to answer for.So much greed when there is far less money around is quite disgraceful. Quite frankly if we cannot depend upon our government to look out for us, then who?

Dawn Hardy ● 4752d

It's a dilemma that has faced several UK governments and quite others a few including the USA.The whole world market is controlled by a handful of multinational drug giants.We all know that have fleeced the NHS for generations and our own home grown firms have mushroomed from the profits gleaned from the NHS.But every attempt for things to be reigned in have been sunk by the threat by these corporations to pull out of the UK, lock stock and barrel. This would cost several hundred thousand jobs.Dare any government play their bluff?One of the key reasons companies like the one in this town set up in every country is so they could do this very easily.The only way would be for an international mandate leaving them with nowhere to go where key staff- scientists etc would be prepared to relocate to.Like trying to sort out the banking system. They cannot do it because one or two countries will always see an opportunity and break ranks.

Michael Brandt ● 4752d

Dawn - I don't disagree with the sentiment but in the example you quote what do you want the Government to do given that the manufacturer is not a UK Company?

Chris Broadbent ● 4752d