Pfizer fined record 84.2m pounds over NHS overcharging

[muriel_volestrangler]

Source: The Guardian

Drugs giant Pfizer has been fined a record 84.2m by the UKs competition regulator after the price charged to the NHS for an anti-epilepsy drug was increased by up to 2,600%.

The Competition and Markets Authority, issuing its biggest fine, said the extraordinary price rises have cost the NHS and the taxpayer tens of millions of pounds.

The CMA also fined the drugs distributor Flynn Pharma 5.2m for charging excessive and unfair prices in the UK for phenytoin sodium capsules, which are used by an estimated 48,000 epilepsy patients in the UK to prevent and control seizures.

The fines follow an overnight price increase for the drug of up to 2,600%, after it was deliberately debranded, the CMA said. Pfizer makes the drug and sells it to Flynn, which in turn sells it to the NHS. The CMA said that by debranding the drug and making it generic, Pfizer was was free to sharply increase the price it charged Flynn, which in turn further raised the price it charged the NHS.



Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/dec/07/pfizer-fined-nhs-anti-epilepsy-drug-cma

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Doctors prefer not to change epilepsy medications, so Pfizer's "there was a competing drug they could have switched to" is a red herring.

[Friend or Foe]

1. It's only a flesh wound! Nt

[NewJeffCT]

2. In 2015, Pfizer's net income was around $7 billion

this fine amounts to $106 million now, or about 1.5% of last year's net income.

But wait... that $106 million would likely be above the net income line so could be tax deductible, so the hit would only be about 2/3 of that $106 million. Or, maybe 1% of their net income.

[Grey Lemercier]

3. In the current US political environment they would get a 84 million quid tax break.

Plus, Shitgibbon would give them a tweeted pat on the back for being a "smart" tough business.