Prescription Drug Costs in Primary and Secondary Care UK - Dissertation Example

the negative value of the mean indicates that generally, the NHS drug tariff prices for the generic drugs are substantially higher than the prevailing retail market price for the branded drugs. The results of the paired samples t-test also showed that there were no significant difference on the costs of generic drugs based on the prices indicated in the NHS drug tariff and the prevailing retail market prices for the branded drugs. This result is absurd because in majority of the drugs considered in this t-test, the generic prices are generally higher than the branded medicines.

This finding, however corroborates the results of Kanavos (2007) that the NHS is reimbursing the pharmacies significantly higher than the actual acquisition cost dispensed by the pharmacies. 16 Table 5. Distribution of Branded NHS Drugs with no Generic Equivalent 17 Table 6. Distribution of Generic NHS Drugs with no Branded Equivalent 17 4.4. Comparison of free prescriptions between England and Wales 23 4.5. The issue of over-prescribing by UK General Practitioners 26 4.7. Wastage of prescription drugs 31 5.0. Results and Implications 33 5.1. Summary of findings 33 5.2. Implications for health care 35 While over-prescribing of drugs appear to be forced choices by physicians who are limited to prescribing only drugs approved for inclusion in the designated PCT formularies, the ramifications of the practice are brought to bear not only on the national coffers, but also on the risk of patients’ illness progressing in severity either because they are overwhelmed of the multiplicity of their medications or simply choose not to adhere to the regimen for whatever reason.

Overprescribing also leads to drug wastage. Another implication of overprescribing is becoming more dangerous for large populations. Any drug has its own benefit – risk ratio. As enunciated by Brekenbridge. It is high time that people realise that medication is not all on the benefit side, as “there is no such thing as a free lunch with drugs” (Brekenbridge, as cited in Laurance, 2011. Drugs need to be taken as instructed, no more, no less. Over-prescribing is definitely out of the question.

It should be all academic at this point that over-prescribing catalyses many repercussions, including higher risk of more serious illness, drug wastage, draining the NHS budget, illegal drug trade, and worst, morbidity and mortality. In this regard, continuing professional education for doctors, especially in drug pharmacology should be a fixed installation in the human resources development programme of NHS. Meanwhile, generic substitution seem to be a promising option for doctors to help save on drug expenditures.

However, block decisions for generic substitution of branded medication should not be resorted to. This matter is not a one-size fits all. Decisions should always be evidenced-based and done with the best interest of patients in mind. While there are cases where generic drugs are comparable in efficacy with their branded precursors, there are also generic drugs which compare poorly with branded medicines. Physicians who prescribe generics should always be on the lookout for non-performing substitutes.