Improved Atorvastatin prices

Pharmacy press

The final price concessions list for August 2023 included some price improvements for Atorvastatin compared with July. We were asked to comment on the concession negotiations for August, in particular those for Atorvastatin.

Our Drug Tariff and Reimbursement Manager, Suraj Shah, said:

“Drug pricing concerns peaked over the summer, particularly around the commonly prescribed Atorvastatin tablets. The impact of any price rise with this type of product will always be far-reaching, which is why we fought hard to ensure that pharmacy owners would be reimbursed fairly. Considering the difficult discussions in July, it is encouraging that we were able to reach agreement with DHSC on August concessionary prices for most strengths of Atorvastatin tablets.

Price concessions are a critical way of protecting pharmacy owners from pricing shocks, but they are far from perfect and the Atorvastatin issues are a prime example of the urgent need to improve the system. Recent changes driven by us include removing discount deduction from concessions products and a retrospective correction mechanism for prices subsequently demonstrated to be wrong – but these are not enough on their own and we are urging DHSC to do more to provide pharmacy businesses with greater certainly of reimbursement by publishing prices earlier in the month and to avoid pharmacies dispensing at a loss by setting prices appropriately.”