Pharmaceutical giant Actavis has become the latest company to face fines for hiking the price of life-saving pills, increasing the cost to the National Health Service by over 12,000 percent.
The Competition and Markets Authority have accused Actavis of increasing the price of their hydrocortisone tablets after the patent lapsed on the drug, causing the NHS’s spending on the drug to rise from £522,000 before 2008 to £70 million by 2015.
CMA’s senior responsible officer, Andrew Groves, commented: “This is a lifesaving drug relied on by thousands of patients, which the NHS has no choice but to continue purchasing.
“We allege that the company has taken advantage of this situation and the removal of the drug from price regulation, leaving the NHS – and ultimately the taxpayer – footing the bill for the substantial price rises.”.
Actavis are the latest in a string of companies to face charges for the same thing, with Pfizer being fined a record £84.2 million last week after it was found that it unfairly hiked prices charged to the NHS for an anti-epilepsy drug by up to 2,600 percent.
British company Reckitt Benckiser was also hit by a fine on Friday by Australia’s Federal Court, after it was found that it had misled customers with its Nurofen Sepcific Pain products.
Reckitt Benckiser manufactures drugs specifically for Period Pain, Migraine Pain, Back Pain and Tension Headache, which were all found to contain the same ingredients as its regular products but cost twice as much. It was found that the company had engaged in “misleading conduct”, and have been told to remove all products from shelves within three months.
Consumer Group Choice’s spokesperson, Nicky Breen, commented on the Court’s decision:
“Reckitt Benckiser used this dodgy marketing for years. Choice first called the company out for its deceptive claims.”
“While we welcome the court’s decision to impose a higher penalty, it’s pocket change compared to the profit Reckitt Benckiser would have made from conning consumers into paying top dollar for products that weren’t any more effective than cheaper generic pain relief pills.”
Shares in Reckitt Benckiser (LON:RB) are currently down 1.30 percent at 6,588.00 (0942GMT).