Attacked for being curious

[bobbin]

the DoH who, happy to reduce the drugs bill by our canny buying yet not increase payments when PIs are low

Definitely. The current 'clawback scale' is totally unreasonable. It leads to many branded products being dispensed at a loss.

[DavidS]

the pharmacist is not breaking the law.......but they are allowing the wholesaler/exporter to break the law.

Even if the wholesaler is based in, say, the EEC , or, more deviously, the Cayman Islands?

[bobbin]

Even if the wholesaler is based in, say, the EEC , or, more deviously, the Cayman Islands?

Hi D,

There are only two places that a wholesaler should buy stock from (NB. parallel distributors are wholesalers)...

1. A manufacturer.

2. Another wholesaler. This includes pharmacies which hold a Wholesale Dealer's license (WDL) issued by the MHRA.

In the Law and Ethics Bulletin (23rd August 2008), the RPSGB stated that a pharmacy which does not hold a WDL should not sell stock to a wholesaler.

It is perfectly legal for a wholesaler to export medicines (to a European wholesaler) provided that such activity does not reduce the availability of medicines for UK patients. Under new arrangements, if a wholesaler is found to be exporting significant volumes of medicines which are known to be in short supply in the UK, the MHRA could withdraw their WDL. There is also a risk of criminal prosecution. The list of branded medicines which are officially in short supply can be found on the PSNC website. Any involvement with the exportation of these medicines is not a good idea. If a pharmacy chooses to sell medicines to a parallel exporter, they should restrict the trade to products which are not on this list.

Branded Medicine Shortages · Funding & Drug Tariff · PSNC

Bobbin

[Defblade]

Under new arrangements, if a wholesaler is found to be exporting significant volumes of medicines which are known to be in short supply in the UK, the MHRA could withdraw their WDL. There is also a risk of criminal prosecution. The list of branded medicines which are officially in short supply can be found on the PSNC website.

Branded Medicine Shortages · Funding & Drug Tariff · PSNC

This is exactly what gets my goat.

(a) suddenly it's still allright (even required) to buy PIs but it might be a criminal offence to let the trade go the other way (notice vague threat with no mention under what Act/regulations that might be the case).

(b) "Branded medicines which are officially in short supply" my whatsit. "Branded medicines which the manufacturers are sitting on and not letting us buy". Quota does NOT equal shortage.

[bobbin]

This is exactly what gets my goat.

(a) suddenly it's still allright (even required) to buy PIs but it might be a criminal offence to let the trade go the other way (notice vague threat with no mention under what Act/regulations that might be the case).

(b) "Branded medicines which are officially in short supply" my whatsit. "Branded medicines which the manufacturers are sitting on and not letting us buy". Quota does NOT equal shortage.

It's all very vague. I don't think any pharmacy or wholesaler has been successfully prosecuted.

Difficult to say which of the quota controlled medicines are actually in short supply. There is no way of finding out how much stock the manufacturer has sitting in their warehouse! Parallel trade makes it difficult for manufacturers to know how much stock to produce for each European country. In the absence of parallel trade, they could use prescribing data as a guide.

[Messier]

there is some good news and some bad news. the good is that some people stock pile these items eg. after dispensing an item ask the agency supplier to supply it again (with proof of a valid RX ie the one that was just dispensed). this is just to help with the next time the patient presents and ensures the stock is there. like no delay for the patient while we beg the agency supplier to increase our quota.
the bad well some one is exporting these things to the EU. that said in my experiance it seems to be the big companies (no names) and some short line wholesalers (who knows how they get hold of so much-from customers perhaps?)

[bobbin]

that said in my experiance it seems to be the big companies (no names) and some short line wholesalers (who knows how they get hold of so much-from customers perhaps?)

The pharmacies most involved in exporting are the medium-sized independent pharmacy chains ie. those which have about 10-90 shops and their own warehouse. The pharmacies supply branded medicines to the central warehouse which then sells to short-line wholesalers/exporters.

As far as I am aware, the largest vertically-integrated chains such as Lloyds and Rowlands are not involved in exporting. This would be very bad PR. These companies need to maintain good relations with the pharmaceutical industry in order for their wholesale operations (AAH and Phoenix) to succeed.

Single independent pharmacies cannot generally obtain enough stock to get deeply involved with export.