Asda pledged today to sell cancer drugs on a not-for-profit basis following the success of a similar scheme for IVF.
The supermarket giant said it was calling on industry to follow its lead and end price mark-ups on all cancer drugs prescribed privately.
The move could save cancer sufferers thousands of pounds on the cost of treatments that may extend their lives but which are not always available on the NHS.
The company, which is owned by US retail giant Walmart, says it is responding to the “three-pronged challenge” facing patients, the first being that a number of treatments have not been deemed to be cost-effective by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
Asda Walmart
Secondly, Asda refers to the problem of the ‘post code lottery”; the latter has led to a situation where the annual spend per cancer patient across the 152 primary care trusts in England can vary by as much as 286% and determines the treatment people are eligible for on the National Health Service.
The move could save patients thousands of pounds and help avoid having to using up their savings to pay for treatment.
Asda will sell the lung cancer drug Iressa for £2167 for a pack of 30.
The supermarket said the same medicine costs £2601.25 at Lloyds Pharmacy, £3251 at Boots and £3253 at Superdrug.
Asda called on other pharmacists to end the mark-ups they charge on prescription medicines and lower the price of all cancer drugs.
They claim Boots and Superdrug hike prices of seven anti-cancer drugs by up to 50 per cent, Lloyds and Tesco by 20 per cent.
Leukaemia treatment Tasigna will cost £2432 – 76 per cent cheaper than Sainsbury’s, who sell it for £4287.
Asda pharmacist John Evans, said: “The crippling cost of paying privately for cancer treatment has forced many people to spend their savings or even remortgage their house to pay for these drugs.
“We are the first retailer to recognise this injustice and to do something about it and we are calling on other retailers to follow our lead.”
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One Response to “UK supermarket to start selling cancer drugs”
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May 22nd, 2010 at 11:54 am
Asda began a High Street price war yesterday by announcing it will sell cancer drugs without making a profit.
Sainsbury’s and Superdrug confirmed they would also sell the medicines at cost price.
It means cancer patients forced to buy their own life-prolonging drugs could save thousands of pounds when the policy starts on Monday.
Patients have to shop around for drugs prescribed privately because the NHS refuse to fund them.
But those with the disease have been faced with mark-ups of up to 76 per cent when they buy the medicines.
Some have taken out loans or mortgages to meet the bills, which often reach several thousand pounds for a course of treatment.
Asda’s announcement throws the spotlight on plans by the Government to launch from April 2011 a £200million cancer drug fund to give patients better access to medicines.