MPs say the market for generic drugs is “ripe for manipulation”

A committee of MPs has criticised the present system for determining the price of generic drugs in the NHS as being “unsatisfactory.” It said in a report, published last week, that the “stratospheric price rises in the past 18 months must have enriched many individuals at the expense of the NHS.”

The House of Commons health select committee set up an inquiry in October 1999 to highlight the shortages andsudden sharp price rises in the cost of non-branded drugs(30 October, p 1151).

In its report, …