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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Diabetes / December 2006NHS urged to save money on statins
BBC report... "The NHS could save at least £85m a year through more efficient prescribing of statins, drugs which lower cholesterol, the government says. The health service spends about £600m a year on the drugs. Costs of statins depend on whether they are a brand or are a cheaper generic version. Ministers said if the NHS used generic drugs in 69% of cases - as a quarter of trusts do - the saving would be made, but experts said lives could be risked." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6212133.stm > BBC report... > "The NHS could save at least £85m a year through more efficient prescribing [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6212133.stm Yes and they can f**k off with my statins. I started with simvastatin and whilst it may or may not have been any good, it did make me feel like shite. My Dr changed me to atorvastatin (lipitor) which was fantastic but apparently expensive. Simon > > BBC report... > > "The NHS could save at least £85m a year through more efficient prescribing [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Simon there's obviously a lot more to this story than the BBC page includes. Statins are a wide ranging group of drugs with an equally wide ranging price tag. Some are more effective than others, and some have different effects on the good and bad cholesterol levels. From what I've seen and read, most GPs or consultants lock on to one or more of the various brands and blanket prescribe them. Some go for lipitor, others Zocor or the simvastatin generic. I think what's now being said is that by applying a little more thought and research to the prescribing, a lot of dough could be saved as atorvastatin isn't yet in generic form. Not everyone who is on expensive Lipitor needs to be on it, and similarly those who don't tolerate a certain statin well (or get the required results) should have that choice available. It's also going to have the effect of driving Lipitor prices down in the medium term. Ratty >> > BBC report... >> > "The NHS could save at least £85m a year through more efficient prescribing [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > >Ratty My local PCT have issued an edict that all pateints on Atorvastatin should be tried on Simvastatin as soon as practical. I'm made the change, and things seem to be fine. I think it saves the PCT about £85 a month or so. Phil >>>> BBC report... >>>> "The NHS could save at least £85m a year through more efficient prescribing [quoted text clipped - 42 lines] > > Phil # Went and checked my latest prescription and what i have is Pfizer Torvast atorvastatina. Very definitely an Italian version of atorvastatin and not Lipitor! Wonder how much cheaper it is to distribute foreign meds (from LLoyds the chemists) Simon > >>>> BBC report... > >>>> "The NHS could save at least £85m a year through more efficient prescribing [quoted text clipped - 49 lines] > > Simon Lloyds do that a lot. They can import within the EU if the prices are better thanks to harmonization of standards, and it's common for companies to use different brands in different countries. I use a Numark supply chain pharmacy these days and they do the same. Might not be a huge difference, but if you are buying in hundreds of thousands of units it could be worth the while. There are companies in Europe who act as drugs brokerages for just this purpose. IIRC CP, who do the beef insulin, are also a major generics trader and supplier. Ratty > # > Went and checked my latest prescription and what i have is Pfizer > Torvast atorvastatina. Very definitely an Italian version of > atorvastatin and not Lipitor! Wonder how much cheaper it is to > distribute foreign meds (from LLoyds the chemists) Lloyds the Chemist was taken over earlier this year by a German company, the biggest Pharmaceutical distributor in Europe. It was relaunched as "Lloyds Pharmacy" shortly afterwards. The German parent runs the same drugs/supplies right across Europe and achieves huge economies of scale. Boots and Alliance Unichem howled with rage at first but tied the knot shortly after in an attempt to compete. >>> Not everyone who is on expensive Lipitor needs to be on it, and >>> similarly those who don't tolerate a certain statin well (or get the >>> required results) should have that choice available. It's also going >>> to have the effect of driving Lipitor prices down in the medium term. >>> >>> Ratty >> My local PCT have issued an edict that all pateints on Atorvastatin >> should be tried on Simvastatin as soon as practical. I'm made the >> change, and things seem to be fine. I think it saves the PCT about £85 >> a month or so. >> >> Phil > Went and checked my latest prescription and what i have is Pfizer > Torvast atorvastatina. Very definitely an Italian version of > atorvastatin and not Lipitor! Wonder how much cheaper it is to > distribute foreign meds (from LLoyds the chemists) > > Simon here in the USA, afaik, Lipitor has another 4 or 5 years to go before it goes off patent. Pfizer is the company that offers it (and has the patent on it) i'd think that that your Italian "Pfizer Torvast atorvastatina" *is* Lipitor, as sold in Italy, of course bill t1 since '57 > >> > BBC report... > >> > "The NHS could save at least £85m a year through more efficient prescribing [quoted text clipped - 42 lines] > > Phil people seem to forget that the generic policy was started under Margaret Thatcher, because of a perceived waste of millions on branded drugs such as Distalgesic. That particular drug (a common pain medication) was prescribed by name and was much more expensive than buying a generic. The statin thing is an extension of the generic-if-available policy, in that it has been expanded to cover both generics and like-for-like substitutions. If it works then I don't see a problem, but there must be the alternatives freely available for the policy to work. Pravastatin is another which has apparently gone generic. Some patients also need something which is more aggressive in its action. Ratty |
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