MP condemns ‘profiteering’ from HRT
Online pharmacies accused of selling drugs for ‘three times their worth’ during shortage
AN MP has accused companies of “profiteering” from HRT shortages, as she raised concerns that some private pharmacies are inflating prices for desperate women.
Manufacturing and supply chain problems, as well as a sharp rise in demand for hormone replacement therapy (HRT), have created severe shortages of the drugs.
Women have described how they have been forced to share supplies through social media, as well as drive “up and down the motorway to swap patches for gel”.
Carolyn Harris, Labour MP for Swansea East, who is co-chairman of the Menopause Taskforce, claimed some HRT products were being sold online for “three times as much as they’re worth”. “It’s profiteering,” she told The Daily Telegraph. She promised to raise the issue in Parliament, write to the pharmacies involved and contact Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary.
Boots Online Doctor, a virtual consultation service which delivers prescriptions to homes, is advertising a 240 gram pack of Oestrogel, which is facing significant shortages, for £80.
Boots said the £80 includes the consultation fee and its price has not changed since last summer. A spokesman also added that the private prescriptions did not have preferential access to Oestrogel supplies. Ms Harris said that last month she paid £62 for four 80 gram packs through another private prescription service. With an NHS prescription, patients would typically pay £9.35 for one pack.
Women have also suggested before the shortages they were able to purchase an 80 gram pack privately for around £22.
“This is just exploitation,” Ms Harris said. “Anybody who thought it was a good idea to hike the price up because there was a shortage… it’s awful, it’s just complete profiteering, and making a profit off the back of somebody’s desperation is never a good look.”
One online pharmacy was allegedly advertising the 80 gram pack for £58.98, according to screenshots sent to Ms Harris. As of yesterday, the pharmacy was advertising the pack for £24.99. Carole Trelease, from South Tyneside, said she paid £46 for a pack of the gel from a different online pharmacy after she was unable to fill her NHS prescription at her local pharmacy.
The website is now advertising the product for £42 and limiting supplies to one pack per patient. “I was so desperate not to go without I would have paid more,” she told this newspaper.
The Daily Telegraph has also been made aware of listings for the product on ebay selling for around £60.
Besins Healthcare, which manufactures Oestrogel, said it had supplied double the quantity to the UK between January and April as it did this time last year. On Thursday, Mr Javid is expected to meet with HRT manufacturers and Madelaine Mcternan, the new HRT supply tsar, to discuss the shortages.
Last week some HRT products were subjected to three month prescription limits to ensure fair access. However, some drug companies have said the shortages could end “within days” if NHS red tape is cut to allow GPS to see a wider range of HRT products.
Ms Harris said she intended to write to the Health Secretary before Thursday’s meeting.
A spokesman at Boots said Online Doctor was a “full service that provides quality care to patients and its price, which includes the cost of medicines prescribed, reflects this”.
They added: “We understand the challenges that patients across the UK are currently experiencing in accessing some HRT medicines, both through the NHS and privately, due to industry wide shortages of certain lines. We remain in regular contact with suppliers so we can manage this as effectively as possible. We do not prioritise medicine for private patients over others.”
The other online pharmacies were approached for comment.