WHY DOESN'T BIG P'HARM'A PAY FOR DANGEROUS DRUGS?
UK ADR COST: £2 BILLION

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/apr/03/nhs.drugsandalcohol

The Guardian. 3 April 2008.
Adverse drug reactions cost NHS £2bn.
Sarah Boseley, health editor

The NHS is spending nearly £2bn a year treating patients who
have had an adverse reaction to drugs prescribed for them by
doctors, according to new figures from the centre-left
thinktank Compass.

The amount of money spent on hospital care for those given the
wrong medicine or who have reacted badly to a drug could pay
for 10,000 new midwives or easily cover the estimated cost of
combating MRSA infections, says Compass.

The health minister Dawn Primarolo confirmed to the
organisation that 6.5% of hospital admissions are a result of
an adverse reaction. Total admissions in 2006 were 16 million,
which means that 1,040,000 patients were there as a result of
the drugs they were prescribed.

Compass bases its calculation on an average stay of eight days
in hospital at a cost of £228 a day. That puts the annual NHS
bill at £1,896,960,000 just for those admitted with ill-effects. It does not include those patients who had a bad reaction to their medicines while they were in hospital. If that cost were added in, the bill would top £2bn.

The new figures, which are substantially higher than any
previous estimates, have been compiled as part of an
investigation into the pharmaceutical industry, its relationship to public health and regulation. "It is increasingly apparent that the lack of effective regulation is costing the taxpayer, and in some cases is causing unnecessary suffering," said Zoe Gannon, who is leading the Compass investigation.

Scandals such as that over the arthritis painkiller Vioxx, which caused heart attacks, and the antidepressant Seroxat, which was found to increase the risk of suicidal thinking in young people, suggest that industry could do more, she said. "The industry knew about these adverse drug reactions and chose not to accept the responsibility because its ultimate goal is to make a profit," she said.

"From our perspective this £1.9bn figure is not completely reducible - we are going to have to accept some adverse drug reactions - but the sheer size of this figure is enormous. It is all about getting a balance between risk and benefit and we feel that the balance is wrong."

Drug companies have huge profit margins, she said - in excess
of 14.3% against a business average of 4.6%. Yet the number of
genuinely innovative medicines - as opposed to copies of those
already on the market - is decreasing.

"The pharmaceutical industry has the upper hand in terms of
research and development investment and is always promising
the latest miracle drug but too often failing to deliver,"she
added.

"Now is the time for a debate about costs and policies about
which drugs the healthcare service can afford as people are
paying infinitely higher prices - the drugs bill to the NHS
now stands at £11bn - for increasingly marginal rewards and
higher risk from adverse drug reactions."

Compass's investigation will question whether it is
appropriate for the Department of Health to take the lead in
relations with the pharmaceutical industry. It will also be
calling for a review of progress since the 2005 report of the
health select committee. Compass aims to publish its own
report in the autumn.