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May 22, 2007:
The United Kingdom’s National Health Service
loses 100 million pounds ($197 million) a year by
way of unused drugs.
According to a study by the National Audit Office,
the United Kingdom government’s financial
watchdog, the wastage occurs because of doctors
over-prescribing drugs while patients fail to take
drugs given to them or stockpile them.
Other causes of wastage include medicines being
dispensed but then going uncollected and drugs
prescribed in hospital being continued
unnecessarily at home.
The study comes after a report in February 2007
from the Office of Fair Trading, which said the
National Health Service was paying hundreds of
millions of pounds too much for branded drugs.
The report by the National Audit Office also found
that costs could be reduced if more patients were
given drugs from generic brands.
John Bourn, head of the National Audit Office,
said there is significant scope for the National
Health Service to improve the value for money of
prescribing in primary care.
The National Audit Office has found that some
small changes in prescribing behavior can lead to
substantial savings for the National Health
Service, John Bourn added.
The government of the United Kingdom is seeking to
reduce one part of its drug bill by prescribing
generic drugs that help lower cholesterol instead
of more expensive branded versions.
The cost of the drug varies from 2.49 pounds to
29.69 pounds a month per patient, according to the
Health Department.
The government has already launched a drive to get
doctors to prescribe generic statins over the
branded drugs.
Statins are taken by almost two million Britons to
help lower cholesterol, and the Department of
Health reckons that at least £85m a year could be
saved by switching to cheaper brands.
In 2006, the National Health Service spent over 8
billion pounds on medicines.
In the second quarter of the financial year 2006,
the proportion of lower-cost statin prescriptions
varied from 28% to 86% across primary care trusts
in England.
BY OUR PHARMA CORRESPONDENT
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