Campaigners are threatening the UK government with legal action over a controversial drug pricing deal with former US President Donald Trump, arguing that a key element of the plan amounts to an 'unlawful power grab'. The deal, announced last December, includes a change to how drug treatments are approved for use by the NHS, potentially leading to higher prices for medicines.
Details of the Controversy
The plan could allow the health secretary to override the independent judgment of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) regarding how much the NHS should pay for certain medicines. Nice is respected worldwide for its independence from ministerial control. Campaign groups Global Justice Now and Just Treatment have sent a 'letter before claim' to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), warning that they may seek a judicial review in the high court unless the government revokes the statutory instrument that came into force last month.
Concerns Over Independence
Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now, stated: 'This is a government gambling with NHS patients’ lives in a geopolitical game with Donald Trump. They risk sabotaging our carefully worked-out mechanism for keeping a lid on big pharma’s overinflated prices, and they have done so without so much as a debate in parliament.'
Lawyers Leigh Day have sent a nine-page letter to the DHSC on behalf of the groups. Former Conservative health secretary Andrew Lansley has also deemed the statutory instrument unlawful, as it clashes with the Health and Social Care Act 2012.
Political Reactions
MPs from several parties, including Labour, have expressed concern over the secrecy surrounding the deal and the government's refusal to publish its impact assessment of the long-term cost of the decade-long agreement with the US. They also criticize the lack of parliamentary debate on the matter.
Diarmaid McDonald, director of Just Treatment, said: 'They’ve refused to publish their own assessments of the damage the deal will do to the NHS and they’ve used a parliamentary process designed to make it extremely difficult for MPs to properly scrutinise what they are up to. But we believe the process they have followed is unlawful and we are ready to take them to court to defend NHS patients and our democracy.'
Government's Defense
Ministers argue that the deal will provide NHS patients with greater access to innovative medicines and ensure that UK drug exports to the US remain tariff-free for three years. A DHSC spokesperson denied that the change overrides Nice's independence, stating: 'Nice’s independence will always be protected. It will continue to set out guidance and make recommendations entirely free from political interference, balancing clinical effectiveness with making sure taxpayers get a good deal.'
The spokesperson added: 'There is a revolution taking place in medical science, and we are determined for this to benefit patients, making it easier to bring innovative medicines to the NHS. This will mean thousands of patients have access to life-changing new treatments, including recently approving a brain cancer drug for patients as young as 12.'
A DHSC source further clarified: 'Nice’s legal framework states that ministers are not able to direct Nice as to the substance of its recommendations. Nice remains responsible for independently deciding whether a medicine can be recommended as a clinically and cost-effective use of NHS resources.'
