Pfizer fined £84m for ripping off NHS

[marigold22]

dailymail.co.uk/news/articl...

When will we see the suppliers of Liothyronine T3 fined the same amount? Well overdue.

[Starfish123]

I'd be surprised, they should be fined, don't get me wrong, but the epilepsy drug is seen as necessary whereas T3 is still something they don't want to prescribe.

[Treepie]

Starfish has a point but even so I have emailed the Competition Authority asking if they are looking nto Mercury Pharma's pricing of T3.

[marigold22 in reply to Treepie]

Thank you so much x

[marigold22 in reply to Treepie]

Treepie, it crossed my mind to write a letter to my MP on this subject, particularly now this has happened with Pfizer. Would it be possible for you to compose a letter we could all send off to our MP's? People power.

[helvella Administrator in reply to marigold22]

Individually composed letters are far more powerful than copy and paste jobs.

However we write, something about our personal wording might just trigger a reaction that "that same one again" never will.

[Treepie in reply to marigold22]

Er! I agree with Helvella .I have previously sent several letters to my MP on the subject and had replies from Ministers which seemed to suggest considerable complacency.There seems to be no system for the NHS to go out into the marketplace and find best value. It is up to pharma companies to decide to apply to have their product accepted. T3 being a small market will not lead to much interest in other players bothering with the expense of getting their brand accepted leaving the sole supplier to profiteer.Of course economists would say that this would create the circumstance for competition to appear.But most economists seem to get most of their predictions wrong.

[helvella Administrator in reply to Treepie]

Sometimes companies see even modest increases in their market as being very desirable. Let us imagine Sanofi increasing their Cynomel sales by, say, 25% just by launching it in the UK. (Based on the assumption that they currently only sell in France, and they only get a proportion of the UK market.) That can be enough to change a barely-profitable product line into a decent (though not spectacular) income stream. Their costs would only rise a little but their sales by a much greater percentage.

Is there some reason for Sanofi not doing so? (Or Sanofi Deutschland with their Henning Thybon product?)

[dolphin5 in reply to Treepie]

It would be helpful if you could share the email address so that we can all email them. Thanks!

[Treepie in reply to dolphin5]

google Competition and Markets Authority for the various ways of contacting them.There is a form that I was unable to open so used the general email address.

[marigold22 in reply to dolphin5]

So sorry but I'm losing the thread here ! Whose email address do you mean? I'm prepared to email/write to anywhere to try and move this problem on. I really think the NHS should be buying T3 in, maybe from Greece or Cyprus, or any country, just so it's cheaper and more available to us who need it.

[Health-wealth]

I have epilepsy and I find any articles like this disturbing. I suppose it is better not to read them as it affects my stress level which is not good for epilepsy. Ultimately, these people will have to answer to God.

[Treepie]

Just noticed a headline that the parent company of Mercury,Concordia has debts of £2.4 billion and could be ruined by fines of up to £66 million.No doubt the debt means it pays no tax.

[helvella Administrator in reply to Treepie]

Just how do you ruin something that is already a disaster?

[Treepie in reply to helvella]

I should have said "bankrupted"

[Hidden]

I agree wholeheartedly with recommendations to write self-created letters. I doubt if any of the copy/paste ones would ever get read past the first 3 words. I have seen my MP twice already re the blacklisting of NDT and not got anywhere....yet.

I am finding that there are many online documents from which it is possible to extract very relevant quotes. Those i have already regarding NDT are probably not relevant to the T3 argument, but places to look for ones that may be include: The Charity Commission, GMC Guidance document, Royal College of Radiologists (T3 is still going to be needed for RAI treatment), UKMI UK Medicines Information, FDA in USA, the Hyppocratic Oath.

I am hoping that, by throwing pulished words back at those who support banishing NDT from professional bodies, I may eventually get somewhere. It doesn't cost anything so why not try it yourself?

[Hidden]

The other problem with the T3 issue is that the NHS only uses one supplier so the supplier has the upper hand with pricing. If the NHS would get quotes from other sources, there would then be competition and the original supplier might have to reduce the price or lose the NHS custom.

[eghjm100]

It' unbelievable really the NHS took our money directly from our pay packets for all our working life with the promise of providing health care for each and every one of us giving us no choice as to opt in or out. but now after 50 years of paying into this non voluntary scheme they are saying it's too expensive for certain drugs ! drugs that are readily available at reasonable prices outside the uk so who's fault is it that these drugs are so expensive in the uk " NHS not doing the job properly and sourcing the drugs needed" If this were the private sector I would be suing the provider for taking money under false pretences. Sorry Rant Over

[hairyfairy]

It`s high time the drug companies were punished for overcharging for their drugs. People are suffering & dying unnecessarily because the NHS can`t afford to give them the drugs that they need.

[marigold22]

I have googled Competition & Markets Authority. Thanks to treepie for mentioning the CMA. I found the following : -

If you get into CMA website, click on Departments, click on Dept. of Health, then it says .. quote “The Department of Health (DH) helps people to live better for longer. We lead, shape and fund health and care in England, making sure people have the support, care and treatment they need, with the compassion, respect and dignity they deserve.

DH is a ministerial department, supported by 27 agencies and public bodies.”

Another section says :

The CMA is investigating suspected unfair pricing in the supply of certain pharmaceutical products under Chapter II CA98/Article 102 TFEU.

gov.uk/cma-cases/pharmaceut...

Case information

On 25 October 2016, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation into suspected breaches of competition law in the pharmaceutical sector. The investigation is under Chapter II of the Competition Act 1998 (CA98) and Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). The investigation relates to suspected unfair pricing by way of charging excessive prices in the supply of certain pharmaceutical products, including to the National Health Service.

The CMA has not reached a view as to whether there is sufficient evidence of an infringement of competition law for it to issue a statement of objections to any of the parties under investigation. Not all cases result in the CMA issuing a statement of objections..

I also found their form - Notify the CMA of anti-competitive or market issues at -

gov.uk/government/publicati...

Is it best we suggest that the NHS considers buying T3 from abroad?