I know this has been posted before but I always like to keep con merchants in the public eye.
Two millionaire brothers nicknamed the "Bollygarchs" have today been accused of being part of a group of businesses hiking up the prices of common drugs needed by the N H S.
Vijay and Bhikhu Patel, who started out with a single Essex pharmacy and are now worth £675 million, have allegedly exploited a N H S' pricing loophole.
Today four businesses, including two with past and present links to the siblings, have allegedly hiked up the price of common drugs by up to 12,500 per cent, helping them rake in £262 million a year.
The companies have been allowed to charge 'extortionate' prices by simply dropping the brand name and using a generic name instead, allowing them to legally bypass the N H S' pricing cap rules.
In one case highlighted by The Times a packet of steroid tablets sold for 75 p in 2008 is now priced at £85.
Written by
69dream
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Ah, So its the same case.... ok... just wondered. I originally answered a huge questionnare that competitions and marketing sent out which made them take up the case. I worked with the late Sheila Turner from TPA and Dr Maclean. Must have been about 6years ago!
What our government should have done many years ago, was to encourage the manufacturing of our NHS supplies in this country but the personal rewards are too good for dealing with these parasites.
I can't see a Tory or a centrist labour party ever advocating for such a thing. Mind you maybe Brexit may force us to redevelop our native production in many sectors. That would be a positive proxy side effect of it.
This just further underlies that the state of things with regards to Thyroid treatment is truly diabolical from beginning to end.
What I don't understand about the above story is surely it is the responsibility of government and whichever health minister there is to bring in legislation to 'close the loophole'. Retrospective fines of a few mil are water off a dogs back when the gains are so much higher. Did this happen?
I have been working with Jon ashworth shadow health secretary about t3 pricing. He is my local MP and helped me get my t3 reinstated, he was horrified by the price gouging but has been stonewalled at every turn, his emails and questions in the Commons are just ignored and not replied to. These companies grease the wheels so no one involved is interested in changing things. He has never got to the bottom of it, he keeps me posted by email, last one before lockdown. It will never change too much money involved. These companies are richer than governments so there is always someone willing to be paid big back hander to facilitate this fraud.
Jon is shadow health secretary so he couldnt very well ignore it, he is a very good local politician and takes his constituency work seriously. It would be worth emailing jon as he is aware of the situation with t3 his team are really helpful.
The NHS couldnt get much worse than when under Jeremy Hunt but Matt Hancock omg he is an economist, a banker (laughs) I am an engineer, thats like saying I am qualified to teach school children.
Its no coincidence Bill Gates has got into pharmaceuticals, even he has cottoned on there is waaaaay more profit in drugs than computers!
I remember you from TPA and dear Sheila too. Hope you are keeping safe and well? This generic drug business is dreadful. I have to pay for my own T3 from Germany with a private script, but God knows whether I will still be able to get it for much longer?! Vijay Patel even got an OBE for his services to business and philanthropy without even being vetted by the Queen's local officer! He he also has a University building named after him and donated £1M to the University in Leicester. Its an Art and Design Centre and cost £136M. Him and his extended family are rolling in it and have sprawling mansions all around London areas and abroad. The brothers were investigated at one point, but I dont think anything came of it.
Another chap called Amit Patel (dont think he is a relation) just got his directorship taken away for 5 yrs and quite a large fine - it was for Nortyptyline which was shared out between two pharmaceutical companies, an NHS supplied drug to a large pharmaceutical wholesaler. this caused the drug price to rise significantly. The CMA did a deal to so that he did not have to go to Court, but he should have done. he made £300M before the age of 40!The top ten Asians in this country are millionaires and many are in the pharmaceutical industry. The CMA have still not sorted out liothyronine case and it is getting on for 31/2 yrs so far and still no outcome!
By the way I have set up a Devon thyroid FB group which now has 65 members, some have joined from this site. Its called The New Thyroid (UK) Support Group. Its a private group but anyone who is on the border of Cornwall or Somerset can also join. Its going very well so far.
I dont know if you are still on TPA but I had been doing some moderating for quite a while. Anyway I told them I was starting this group and was it ok to advertise on their site. Much to my shock and surprise I was told by T and P that I couldnt because they felt by doing so I was trying to split up their group, and that some of them were very upset because I hadnt talked to them first about it. T in particular was adamant that I should no longer moderate for them. I was really very upset about their attitude at the time,because actually I was even putting their name on my FB page as somewhere else that people who joined my group could go to if they needed further info. I have left them on the info page as do not want to be childish about this. Im an adult and have taken it on the chin so to speak. Its their loss!
You will be pleased to know that in just a month we have 66 members and its going extremely well. Unfortunately the thyroid treatment dished out by our local clinical lead endo is disgraceful and she keeps most patients on 75mcg levo and 10mcg T3 and thinks its ok to have your TSH at 4! Sime get no treatment and told to get on with it! We would like to challenge this eventually but she wields so much power, it wont be an easy one! There are several people who ve seen her including me who have not had a good experience at all. Its very sad, but the more groups that get set up hopefully things will improve for the better.......eventually!
Just so as I know who you are I think Galathea is your real name?! You can ignore the question about Devon
Looking through some of the information, the CMA CEO mentions: "Pharmaceutical companies which abuse their position and overcharge for drugs are forcing the NHS – and the UK taxpayer – to pay over the odds for important medical treatments."
IMHO, this is one good reason for sorting this out. But another, just as important, if not moreso and should provide more weight behind the investigation, surely, is that with this extortion (which is exactly what it is) going on, the patients who need this medication can't receive it, because it would cost the NHS (and UK taxpayer) too much. Prescribing can't currently be justified by the NHS at the hiked prices they would have to pay. They are, of course, powerless to do anything about this and it's the patients suffering as a result.
I sometimes wonder why there aren't any not-for-profit drug companies supported by charities or trusts etc. I wonder what is involved in putting one together?
Thank you for this link! I've been wondering what's happening - at least people are keeping at it, but how appalling. We're inching closer to becoming the 51st State... something I've heard since childhood... nipping at our heels now.
The real scandal is the outright refusal of the UK authoriities to allow the regulated intake of T3 tablets from abroad. Even from Germany where the quality control is at least as good as it is here. And the price ismuch lower.
Some of us are aware of a hardcore bunch of endocrinologists who have been determined to bring about this state of affairs = NO to T3 and NO to NDT. That is not to say I give 'credit' to them for achieving this end but, for sure, they're in the equation.
Follow the money ! I once read over 80% of NICE members are on a Big Pharma payroll somewhere. Keeping thyroid patients un/under-medicated means millions of prescriptions for drugs to treat the myriad of symptoms ... Western Medicine is BIG business and not about wellness.
I think it is a form of gold-plated , rigidly and unthinkingly applied bureaucracy, in that rules are set down in black and white (by whom, and influenced by whom I couldn't say) but which are followed by the sort of person who, if they see a rule, jump twice as high in applying it than they need to. I believe there is a disease with this feature which is especially rife in the UK. That is, as I point out, the action of looking at a rule, doubling or trebling its scope and applying the over treatment without any thought of doing something better. It's why in general, things take ages to be enacted and are overproduced when they finally appear.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
T3 
Is t3 any good for Hashimoto's?
T3
Extortionate T3 price - Times newspaper - Reply
Prescriptions for cheaper T3 on the NHS
