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| Exporting medicines for profit puts British patients at risk, say MPs | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The health of patients has been put at risk by speculators trying to increase profits by exporting medicines intended for use in the UK, a group of MPs and peers says. | The health of patients has been put at risk by speculators trying to increase profits by exporting medicines intended for use in the UK, a group of MPs and peers says. |
| Ministers must consider banning the practice, which is legal under EU trade rules, and put the wellbeing of Britons over the free movement of goods, said MPs on the all-party pharmacy group. | |
| Selling on treatments intended for the NHS to other EU countries had caused serious shortages of some treatments according to its highly critical report. | Selling on treatments intended for the NHS to other EU countries had caused serious shortages of some treatments according to its highly critical report. |
| Patients with mental health problems, diabetes, epilepsy and pregnant women needing to stabilise their pregnancy were among those who were undergoing "stress, anxiety and sometimes harm" due to shortages. | |
| Wholesalers and others who do not help protect UK supplies, which are often bought cheaply because of the size of the NHS, should face sanctions, said the group's report. | |
| Regulators should also consider whether it was in the best of interests of patients to increase the number of licences to wholesalers. | |
| The problem, which has grown over four years, was caused by the weak pound and strong euro, a position that has only changed recently because of the crisis in the eurozone. | The problem, which has grown over four years, was caused by the weak pound and strong euro, a position that has only changed recently because of the crisis in the eurozone. |
| "We have no objection to the export of medicines in principle, so long as this practice does not harm patients," said the report. "However, throughout this inquiry, we have seen evidence that patients are suffering and that pharmacists' time and resources are being diverted away from patient care as a result of medicines being in short supply." | |
| Were it not for the efforts of pharmacists to find alternative emergency supplies, the problem would be even worse. | Were it not for the efforts of pharmacists to find alternative emergency supplies, the problem would be even worse. |
| Attempts to mitigate problems, including setting quotas for UK use, had proved ineffective. The parliamentary group said it detected "an air of resignation" among those responsible for trying to protect supplies. | Attempts to mitigate problems, including setting quotas for UK use, had proved ineffective. The parliamentary group said it detected "an air of resignation" among those responsible for trying to protect supplies. |
| "The problem of shortages has been dismissed variously as either inevitable, or having been inherited from the previous government. The Department of Health has also seemed reluctant to take action without having hard evidence that patients have been affected." | "The problem of shortages has been dismissed variously as either inevitable, or having been inherited from the previous government. The Department of Health has also seemed reluctant to take action without having hard evidence that patients have been affected." |
| The group said it was satisfied from anecdotal reports that patients' wellbeing was at risk. | |
| It added that regulators, companies and professional bodies must do more to provide information on the scale of the problem and which medicines were most attractive financially to export. | It added that regulators, companies and professional bodies must do more to provide information on the scale of the problem and which medicines were most attractive financially to export. |
| At present, listed shortages might affect 30-40 products at any one time, out of a total of about 16,000 licensed medicines. Although that might seem to suggest problems were small, it was no exaggeration to say that the effective functioning of supplies for some drugs "can make the difference between good health and illness, and potentially even life and death". | At present, listed shortages might affect 30-40 products at any one time, out of a total of about 16,000 licensed medicines. Although that might seem to suggest problems were small, it was no exaggeration to say that the effective functioning of supplies for some drugs "can make the difference between good health and illness, and potentially even life and death". |
| In any event, lack of market-wide data meant even the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency "does not even know which products are in shortage, much less by whom they are being exported". | |
| Kevin Barron, Labour MP for Rother Valley, south Yorkshire, who chairs the group, said the problem was getting worse. | |
| "Other countries experiencing the same problem are now looking into the possibility of prohibiting the export of medicines, and this government needs to urgently look at what they can learn from this."The British Association of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers (BAPW), which represents the nine big companies that supply 85% of the UK's medicines, said there were about 1700 other licence holders and some of these were buying medicines cheaply in the UK and selling them where prices were higher. | |
| Martin Sawer, director of the BAPW, told the BBC: "It varies from medicine to medicine but in Germany, which is the highest priced market in the EU, some medicines can be nearly twice as much as in the UK." | |
| The Patients' Association, which gave extensive evidence to the MPs' inquiry, said: "The government needs to investigate this problem as a matter of urgency, using the findings of this report as a starting point." | |
| Three organisations – the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, Pharmacy Voice and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society – said in a joint statement that the report: "Reinforces the views of all pharmacy bodies that delays to the supply of medicines to patients cause distress, risk patient harm and are unacceptable." | |
| The Department of Health in England said it would consider the report carefully. A spokesman said that work was going on behind the scenes to ensure contingency supplies were available. |