Almost 300,000 protest against pushing up NHS drug prices

Around 300,000 people have protested against proposals to make changes to the way drugs are approved for NHS use.

Last week it was reported that the health service in England may need to pay more for medicines under plans to stave off tariffs threatened by US President Donald Trump.

Politico said proposals, including raising the threshold used by England’s NHS spending watchdog by 25%, had been briefed to Washington officials.

Now three petitions, which urge the Government to resist pressure on changing the threshold, have been signed by more than 295,000 people via campaign groups 38 Degrees and Just Treatment.

Last week, the Government confirmed it is in “advanced discussions” with the US to “secure the best outcome for the UK”.

While some experts welcomed the news, saying it would mean more innovative treatments could reach NHS patients sooner, others expressed concern about the increase in costs and questioned how the plans would be funded.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) assesses medicines based on a number of factors including clinical effectiveness, cost effectiveness and the overall cost to the NHS.

This is done using an assessment called quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), which combines both the length of life gained from a treatment and its impact on quality of life, represented as a number.

In general, Nice considers medicines costing between £20,000 and £30,000 per additional QALY gained to represent good value for money for the NHS.

Increasing the threshold would make it easier for NHS patients to access more expensive drugs, but it would also mean the health service pays more for medicines overall.

It comes after science minister Lord Patrick Vallance conceded an increase in the price the NHS pays for medicines will be “necessary” to prevent pharmaceutical investments from continuing to leave the UK.

Major firms have shelved or paused planned UK pharmaceutical industry investments this year, and industry bosses recently told MPs a “difficult” environment and pressure on pricing had made Britain a less attractive investment environment than other countries such as the US.

It is understood Mr Trump wants more parity on drug pricing, with drug prices in the US higher than anywhere else in the world, and he has threatened to impose tariffs of up to 100% on pharmaceutical imports.

The new petitions are to be handed in to the Department of Health and Social Care on Monday.

Matthew McGregor, chief executive at 38 Degrees, said: “The Government is currently sitting across the negotiating table from Big Pharma reps, but they need to remember who’s standing behind them: 250,000 angry voters who reject Trump’s bullying trade threats.

“A quarter of a million members of the public are clear – the Government must reject demands for higher prices for vital NHS medicine.”

Director of Just Treatment, Diarmaid McDonald, said: “It’s a clear attempt to shake down the UK taxpayer for as much money as possible and will take precious funds away from other vital NHS care and send it into the pockets of rich pharma executives.

“It’s really important that the UK Government doesn’t give in to this bullying.”

The Department of Health and Social Care has been approached for comment.