NHS could save £200 million a year if less expensive drugs were prescribed for arthritis and cancer

NHS Improvement is urging doctors to stop prescribing expensive branded medicine in a bid to save hundreds of million each year, and to opt for generic drugs, or ‘biosimilars’, which are just as effective but far cheaper.

The watchdog believes that amongst the biggest saving could be made if doctors stopped prescribing the breast cancer drug Herceptin, which costs £1,222 per dose, given every three weeks for 12 months, costing nearly £22,000 a year. An equivalent medicine, Humira, is available at £704 a month, £8,500 annually.

NHS Improvement’s executive director of operational productivity Jeremy Marlow, said “As more people are diagnosed with long term conditions such as arthritis and cancer, we must ensure that the NHS uses its resources as efficiently as possible to treat and care for them.

“By delivering £324 million in savings in a single year from switching to better value but equally effective and safe medicines, the NHS has been able to help more patients manage their conditions.

“There is still more to do, with 200 million of additional savings to be achieved this year.

“We will also continue to find further opportunities to use medicines more effectively and make every penny of the NHS’s budget count.”

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Posted by Karen Motley, Paralegal, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (karenmotley@chadlaw.co.uk), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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