Pharmaceutical industry

Hydrocortisone manufacturers to be fined almost £130m after tribunal upholds ruling

The Competition and Markets Authority said NHS spending on hydrocortisone tablets rose from £0.5m per year to over £80m.…

GPhC facing biggest ever backlog of open fitness-to-practise cases at initial assessment stage

Council papers said there were more than 700 open initial assessment fitness-to-practise cases.…

Shortage of scabies treatment ‘likely to become a major public health issue’

The government has issued a medicine supply notification warning that permethrin 5% w/w cream will be “in limited supply until further notice due to an increase in demand”.…

Bupropion to be made available in the UK again from December 2023, says manufacturer

Exclusive: GSK has told The Pharmaceutical Journal that bupropion tablets will be available “across the EU and Europe on or before the end of December 2023”.…

RPS says codeine linctus should be made a prescription-only medicine, in response to MHRA consultation

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society says reclassification will make it easier to monitor codeine linctus use, because it will be recorded in GP systems.…

Uncompassionate use: the inconsistent offering of life-saving unlicensed medicines

Compassionate use schemes offered by pharmaceutical companies are struggling to live up to their name, as data from a third of acute trusts reveal an inequitable provision of medicines through schemes across England.…

Decision to fine liothyronine supplier millions of pounds for price hikes upheld at tribunal

Fines of £84.2m have been imposed on Advanz Pharma and two former owners after a tribunal upheld the Competition and Markets Authority’s judgement that they had breached competition law.…

Second ADHD medication shortage leaves patients in ‘very difficult position’, pharmacists warn

A medicine supply notification warned that atomoxetine 40mg and 60mg capsules will be out of stock until September 2023…

Pharmacy teams told to ‘urgently’ order unlicensed imports of chemotherapy drugs in shortage warning

Exclusive: A ‘Tier 3 — high impact’ alert has been issued for the platinum-based chemotherapy agents cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin.…

Community pharmacy supervision does not mean overseeing ‘individual transactions’, pharmacy bodies determine

The cross-sector group of seven pharmacy sector organisations says public, primary and secondary legislation should be updated to reflect its supervision recommendations.…