This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this ... pharmacy?

According to SCRIP Pharmaceutical News, Great Britain, once a popular destination for European Union parallel traded drugs – is fast becoming a major EU source country, leading to shortages of some major drugs there.

Last year, the British Association of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers (BAPW) warned about a risk of severe drug shortages over the winter as wholesalers ran down stocks in advance of price cuts on January 1st, 2009. It also noted that the problem could be made worse by parallel trading from the UK caused by the weakness of sterling against the euro and other currencies.

In July this year, the problem of shortages was raised again, with claims that they were being caused by changes in UK supply arrangements (many manufacturers had adopted the direct-to-pharmacy model), and that parallel exports could also be a contributing factor.

While it is wholesalers that are responsible for most parallel trade, it appears that in the UK many pharmacies and even some doctors are plying their own mini-trade too. The ABPI says that the pricing discrepancies and the exchange rate factor have "created a financial incentive for either wholesalers, pharmacies or dispensing doctors to order extra medicines and sell them overseas for a quick profit.”

The industry is not alone in drawing attention to this situation. UK health authorities and pharmacy bodies have issued strong warnings to the effect that pharmacists indulging in this kind of trade are acting "unethically,” particularly given the disruption the pandemic could cause in the coming flu season.

Keith Ridge, chief pharmaceutical officer at the Department of Health (DH), has written to NHS chief pharmacists noting that some NHS hospitals are "considering entering into agreements to export, or result in the export of, medicines for short-term financial gain". This, says Mr Ridge, is "wholly unacceptable" and "contrary to acceptable professional behaviour". Pharmacists who enter into such agreements at a time of pandemic "are acting particularly irresponsibly.”

So, if you think Her Majesty’s Government is going to sit passively by while American politicos ponder drug importation from their island kingdom – think again.