The Office of Fair Trading is responsible for checking the profits and safety of the drugs the pharmaceutical manufacturers sell to the NHS. They have to monitor that only branded and quality medicines are sold and the prices should be reasonable.
The Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme [PPRS] is a voluntary organization which monitors and legislates the agreement of the pricing and quality of the drugs every 5 years. It maintains agreement and negotiates between the Department of Health and Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry [ABPI]. THE PPRS sets a margin for the profit each pharmaceutical manufacturer’s gains from the sale of the drug. The OFT wants the PPRS to be very strict and maintain all the records of the profit gained by the pharmaceutical industry and also wants the PPRS to monitor that adequate money is granted for Research and development division of the pharmaceutical industry so that safety of the drugs are monitored and new and effective drugs are found.John Vickers, OFT Chairman, said: "We want to examine whether the PPRS works well to ensure that pharmaceuticals markets meet the needs of patients by offering adequate rewards to pharmaceutical companies for developing new and useful drugs, while providing the taxpayer with value for money."
Dr Richard Barker, director general of the ABPI, said,” The PPRS is conducted in a very open and transparent way, with annual reports to Parliament about its progress and full details of how it operates made public. "We shall of course co-operate fully with the OFT."
(Source: BBC News) For more information on different drugs search Medindia Medication Manual: This manual gives you essential prescription information about different drugs. It reveals the why a drug is prescribed, how it should be taken, its side effects, necessary precautions to be taken while taking it, etc. These drugs are listed by their chemical structure and generic names.
