UK pharmaceutical companies paying millions of pounds to healthcare professionals

First published by Author on April 13, 2018 in the following categories: Incentives and tagged with competition law | incentives | medical

According to a report from The Times newspaper, UK pharmaceutical companies are reportedly paying millions of pounds to healthcare professionals and other organisations.

American pharmaceutical companies have previously come under fire for reportedly paying healthcare professionals to push their products, and it now appears the UK may have the same problem.

According to The Times, two of the biggest pharmaceutical players in the UK have been making “secret payments” of almost £20 million to reportedly “plug” their products.

The pharmaceutical giants at the centre of this story are Astrazeneca and Shire. The payments apparently cover things like consultancy fees, expenses and costs for travel and accommodation for event sponsored or organised by the companies.

With the issue of some healthcare professionals said to be taking payments from certain pharmaceutical to plug their products in America, a country said to be facing an epidemic when it comes to medication like opioids, are similar practices creeping into the UK as well? There are whispers of a drug-reliance issue here in the UK as well.

If healthcare professionals and organisations are essentially being paid to push certain products to patients, the first question is whether this is of any detriment to the patients themselves. The second issue to consider is whether this is a breach of competition rules if intermediary suppliers (healthcare professionals / organisations) are being paid incentives to push certain products (like drugs) to the “consumer” (i.e. the patient) by the manufacturers (the pharmaceutical companies).

Any competition in the area of medicine should be with the interest of the consumers at heart: i.e. the patients and the NHS. It should be a case of lower costs for the already struggling NHS, and lower prices for patients who may need vital medication to live their lives comfortably.

We have recently reported about the unbelievable price-hikes for medication supplied to the NHS, which is undoubtedly harming the ability of the NHS to use limited funds as efficiently as possible.

If we are now also facing a situation where some drugs are being pushed which may be financially detrimental to the NHS and patients, and perhaps even detrimental to patient health, it is clear that something needs to be done.

This is an issue we will be keeping a very close eye on.