Drug firms challenge government

Millions of pounds could be saved if people took generic drugs

Drugs firms have forced a judicial review over a government scheme which encourages GPs to switch their patients on to cheaper, generic medication.

The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) argues paying doctors to prescribe such drugs is illegal under European law.

It also claims that the scheme, which mainly involves cholesterol-lowering drugs, compromises patient safety.

The Department of Health says it will "rigorously defend the challenge".

It argues that the NHS could potentially save £84m if patients with high cholesterol were switched onto generic versions of statins.

"These generic drugs are safe, of good quality, just as effective, and used to treat many millions of patients worldwide," the DoH said in a statement.

"We are talking here about achieving best value for money for the taxpayer," it added. "Cost-effective prescribing releases resources for more patients to receive treatment."

A number of GPs have expressed discomfort with the recommendations, arguing that it may put patients at risk.

Dr Peter Fellows, chairman of the British Medical Association's GP prescribing committee, told Pulse magazine: "Doing all this for very small short-term financial gains is really ridiculous. I will fight to the death to defend doctors' rights to prescribe what they think is most clinically effective".

Losing money

Under the scheme, GPs are rewarded for increasing the percentage of generic drugs prescribed. All payments under the scheme are supposed to go into practice funds and not to individuals.

Doing all this for very small short-term financial gains is really ridiculous. I will fight to the death to defend doctors' right to prescribe what they think is most clinically effective Peter Fellows GPC prescribing committee

The ABPI considers this payment to prescribe a certain kind of drug as tantamount to a bribe and thus illegal under European law.

"As it is essential this is clarified, the ABPI has, with regret, started a judicial review to clarify the legality of this procedure," it said in a statement.

The drugs industry says it has lost "hundreds of millions of pounds" as a result of the new system, while stressing it supported the NHS's attempts to secure value for money from suppliers.

It said it also wanted to see a system in which patients were asked to provide informed consent to any switch in treatment, rather than just the opportunity to object.

Already prescribed

Statins are currently used by nearly 2m people. The cost of them depends on whether they are brand name or generic versions.

One generic version - simvastatin - is about £20 per month cheaper than the brand alternative.

Before the new incentives were introduced, a quarter of trusts were already prescribing the generic versions in more than two-thirds of cases.

The DoH stressed that any changes to a patient's treatment "should be based on good quality evidence or guidance".