NHS price rap

Drug firm accused of ripping off NHS after hiking pill price whopping 6,000%

Overcharging by £100million, the UK's competition watchdog has called out a pharmaceutical company for defrauding the NHS

A DRUG firm has been accused of ripping off the NHS after it hiked the price of a key treatment by 6,000 per cent.

The UK’s competition watchdog said Concordia “abused” its position to overcharge by £100million for a thyroid pill.

The expensive drug in question, liothyronine

Around 80,000 prescriptions for liothyronine are given out each year.

The Competition and Markets Authority said the NHS now spends over £34million annually on the drug, up from around £600,000 in 2006.

In its provisional findings, the CMA said the Canadian firm may have “abused its dominant position”.

A spokesman for Concordia said: “We do not believe that competition law has been infringed.”

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