Doxazosin, Lisinopril, Omeprazole and Simvastatin price drop, UK

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 02 Sep 2004 - 14:00 PDT

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UK - The September Drug Tariff contains significant price reductions for Doxazosin, Lisinopril, Omeprazole and Simvastatin.

The reimbursement price of Drugs in Part 8, Category A of the Drug Tariff is based on a weighted average of the price of a product from two wholesalers (Unichem and AAH) and three generic manufacturers (APS, Alpharma and Ivax). The Department of Health have overriden the normal Drug Tariff rules and the lower reimbursement prices will apply to September 2004 prescriptions.

In early July, Lord Warner proposed to further reduce the reimbursement price for the '4 generics' from the 1st September 2004. The prices of these four medicines were first reduced on 1st December 2003 to address the significant differences between the reimbursement price and the price at which pharmacists were purchasing them from suppliers.

The PSNC, National Pharmacetical Association, Company Chemists Association and the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies submitted a joint response to the recent proposals. It is the belief of these organisations that removing money from reimbursement at this stage is wrong in principle.

The price changes can be found by clicking here and scrolling down a bit